Luminous Landscapes proposes to be a series of three site specific sound and light installations around Wales that explore the iconic nature of our built structures, such as Strata Florida Abbey, Harlech Castle, the Severn Crossing and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Working in collaboration with composer John Hardy, new light and sound-scapes will be created in response to each building that would be heard via concealed speakers when visitors move around the building. The introduction of sound will provide an evocative atmosphere that is unashamedly contemporary but is unmistakably inspired by the building and its context. As darkness falls, projected light will start to transform the architecture and change its appearance in response to the sound, using colour and shape to animate these static landmarks. There will also be an accompanying programme of live music performed by local musicians.
See the shortlisted entries for this region and read about the judging panel
Simon Fenoulhet studied Fine Art at both Newport and Cardiff Colleges of Art gaining a Masters Degree in 1987. Since graduating he has had parallel careers as an artist and an arts administrator, exhibiting widely throughout Wales in a variety of galleries and outdoor venues. He has also played a central role in the development of public art in Wales through his work with Cywaith Cymru.Artworks Wales.
Over the last eleven years he has focussed on the use of light as a key element of his work since his first major one man show, ‘Groundless’ at Chapter Arts Centre in 1998. This preoccupation is coupled with a delight in exploiting everyday objects and materials, using light to transform the humdrum into the poetic. In 2003 his show ‘Light Works’ at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff played on the familiar elements of building, with works that challenged our preconceptions about the solidity of materials with a fluid floor and a see through brick wall. He was commissioned by the Glynn Vivian Museum in 2005 to make a new body of work comprising three large scale installations using lasers, under floor lighting and projection.
Now working freelance as an artist and part time lecturer, he is concentrating on the development of new work having been awarded a Creative Wales Award by the Arts Council of Wales for his project ‘Looking for Darkness’. As an extension of the gallery based work, Simon has been exploring some of Wales’ subterranean spaces: caves, tunnels and mines, making a record of places that are naturally dark and culminating in a series of light works underground.
In 2007, he collaborated with composer John Hardy to create Beacon, a site specific sound and light installation at Wymondham Abbey in Norfolk as a celebration of the building’s 900 anniversary. This work was commissioned by South Norfolk Council and managed by Commissions East.
www.simonfenoulhet.co.uk