About Us
Paisley, Caernarfon, Derry-Londonderry, Luton, Hull
2022
Projection-mapping, live music, education and participation combine to create one of the UK’s most ambitious touring outdoor performances.
About Us was a touring large scale public art event combining multimedia installations with animation, poetry, original music and live performance to explore the myriad connections between us, our planet, and the wider cosmos. The live show used animation and projection mapping to transform buildings and landmarks in five towns and cities across the UK into vast canvases on which we tell the story of 13.8 billion years of hyper-connected history.
The show featured an original score by composer Nitin Sawhney performed by local choirs in each location. The outdoor installation incorporated submissions from a UK-wide poetry and computer coding competition for children and young people run by our partner organisations The Poetry Society and Stemettes. Poetry and coding workshops also took place in local schools in each location and the work from those workshops forms a day-time offering of the show. Living portraits of the local residents of each location are displayed on the LED plinths, reminding us that we are at the centre of this incredible story. About Us toured the UK from March to May 2022 and ran for a week in each location.
About us was presented as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. It featured free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration.
Opened Oct 2022
Paisley, Caernarfon, Derry-Londonderry, Luton, Hull
Behind the scenes
Production Photos
Paisley
Derry-Londonderry
Caernarfon
Luton
Hull
Design Process
Selecting surfaces
Site layout
Augmenting the urban fabric
The show was adapted in each of the 5 locations to mapspecifically to the architecture in each space. From 1 key buildingin Paisley to 5 different buildings in Hull, the show can grow andexpand to fit any size location. Due to it’s adaptable nature theshow can be re-worked for a myriad of surfaces.The Lighting, LED and projection worked harmoniously toensure that the lighting was striking and impactful withoutoverpowering the projection surfaces, each element coming in toit’s own at key storytelling moments.
Designing the plinth family
The LED plinths were multi-purpose within the About Us show. Not only were they a key feature in the evening shows, reflecting the human element of the story, they also allowed us to offer a day-time version of the show. This included works produced by local school children, living portraits of local community members and poetry readings created by our partners at The Poetry Society. They were also used as a great marketing tool, showing show information and promotional material for the Unboxed festival.
The plinths not only featured LED but also lighting and sound making them a dynamic storytelling tool.
The Daytime Show
The daytime show brought together the creative results of a wide-reaching community and schools engagement programme, which took place in collaboration with local organisations and facilitators in each of the five show locations. Using our video plinths as a canvas, the daytime programme featured poems written by local young people, slow-motion video portraits of the residents of each town and city, and the winning entries from a national poetry and coding competition.
Live Choir Performances
In each location, 59 collaborated with local community choirs to bring to life a score written by Nitin Sawhney, commissioned especially for the project. Working with over 350 singers from a range of backgrounds, with musical direction from Osnat Schmool, the show gave voice to the residents of each town and city, giving a local, human scale aspect to the spectacular visuals.
Credits
Director
Judith Palmer – The Poetry Society
CEO
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon – Stemettes
School Project Education Lead
Natasha Ryan – The Poetry Society
Composer
Nitin Sawhney
Sound Designer
David McEwan
Musical Director
Osnat Schmool
Site Management
Engine No.4
Video Kit Rental
Blue-i
Lighting Kit Rental
Lite Up
Sound Kit Rental
Stage Sound Services
Projector Structures
IPS
Plinth Fabrication
Stage One
Project Manager
Kat Clark – Stemettes
Engagement Producer
Paul Moss
Music participation Producer
Holly Hunter
Assistant Producer
Georgia Young
Filmmaker
Edmund Saunders
Photographer
Justin Sutcliffe
Archive Researcher
Emma Werner
Marketing and Communications Director
Stacey Coyne-Wright
Content and Social Media Manager
Bella Cox
Communications Assistant
Norbert Portornai
The Production Family (Production Management)
Production Manager
Wayne Parry
Technical Manager
Dan Shelley
Event Manager (Paisley, Derry~Londonderry, Hull)
Alastair Pickard
Event Manager (Caernarfon, Luton)
Sarah Peters
Location Manager
Anya Tavkar
Health and Safety Advisor
Anna Dolan
59 Credits
Project Director
Lysander Ashton
Lead Video Designer
Nicol Scott
Executive Producer
Rebecca Collis
Writer
Mark Grimmer
Technical Assistant
Richard Wells
Video Programmer
Liam Daly
Animator
Aaron Brady
Animator
Edd Stockton
Animator
Jesse Richards
Animator
Kyli John
Lighting Associate
Johanne Jenson
Sound System Designer
Mike Beer
Senior Architectural Designer
Dayoung Shin
Senior Video Designer
Jason Devine
Head of Technical and Production
James Roxburgh
Lighting Designer
Matt Daw
Lighting Programmer
Chris Hirst
Assistant Producer (Paisley)
Hope Delicata
Assistant Producer (Luton)
Teya Lanzon
Animator
Tom Munday
Animator
Laurent De Vleeschouwer
Animator
Sean Kothe
Associate Sound Designer
Zoe Milton
Architectural Designer
Asha Pandit
Video Designer
Matt Taylor
Assistant Video Designer
Lorna Pittaway
Editor
Jessie Rodger
Assistant Producer (Derry, ~ Londonderry, Hull)
Anna Jones
Graphic Designer
Bex Pitt
Graphic Designer
Adam Dolby
Video Programmer
Ashley Green
Video Programmer
Luigi Sardi
Technical Associate
Iain Syme
PR
Jenn Reynolds