Behind the scenes with Northern Lights artists at Spectra 2024
Ten commissioned artists with a connection to the North East, have been commissioned by Look Again at Gray’s School of Art on behalf of SPECTRA 2024, to lead an augmented reality showcase, ‘Northern Lights’. With the festival fast approaching, RGView caught up with some of the artists to find out more about ‘Northern Lights'.
The creatives featuring in ‘Northern Lights’ include a number of alumni and current students from Gray’s School of Art, selected by Look Again to create specially augmented reality artworks to premiere as part of the SPECTRA 2024 programme.
Lead artist and Gray’s alum behind the ‘Northern Lights’ project, Craig Barrowman, is drawing on Spectra 2024’s theme ‘Connection’ to channel his skills into an interactive augmented reality (AR) exhibition, and is working tirelessly behind the scenes, to collaborate with the 10 artists to bring their visions to life in a virtual world layered on the city centre streets.
One of the artists, Kirsty Lawie, from Outlines Creatives who is a Communication Design graduate from Gray’s, plans to showcase a graffiti inspired animation telling the story of how a graffiti piece comes together. Describing her artwork, Kirsty says people can expect to see the second of her ‘Outlines Creatives Doric’ series, that includes the 'Far Ye Gan?' installation at the Mounthooly roundabout in Aberdeen and reflects the community that makes ‘Aiberdeen fit it is.’
Kirsty says 3D technology has given her an opportunity to paint a space that she would never have been able to access and the opportunity to explore the process of painting.
She said: “We are delighted to be involved in the Northern Lights project. Spectra is a big landmark in Aberdeen’s cultural calendar, so we are happy to be amongst some great global artists! We have been given a lot of freedom in this project to flex our creativity in designing animations to be included in the trail so we are looking forward to showing something new to the people who visit Spectra and share how fun our work can be.
“It's great that Look Again are involved and commissioning local artists as it develops our practice and reflects the local cultural community. Look Again have been very supportive of local artists and given us an opportunity we don't know how else we could have reached.”
Elsewhere in ‘Northern Lights’, Gray’s alumnus, Harry Roberts, has created a playful, 3D animation featuring an alien that he describes as ‘comical and cheeky’. He encourages visitors to use their phones to reveal hidden ‘beings’ that exist beyond the spectrum of human vision including spirits, ghosts and aliens. His artwork includes a blend of hand-drawn animated elements, and a fusion of artistic techniques, that have been carefully created so as not to obstruct the city view across Aberdeen.
With a passion for animation, Harry says the project has enabled him to experiment with new modelling techniques and given him the opportunity to showcase his talent alongside more established creatives. He said: “I am honoured to be involved in Spectra with it being a big event in Aberdeen's calendar. This is my first big commission post-Gray's and I'm grateful to be selected and to put my work out to the public to enjoy.
“I really commend Look Again for giving local Aberdonian talent and Gray's alumni, spaces and opportunities for exhibitions, events and commissions. It can often be hard to find such opportunities, especially right now, and for Look Again to reach a hand towards newer less-established creatives like myself and put them in big events like Spectra, is great.”
Mark Luurtsema has created an AR experience called Rainbow Head that gives people the illusion that they have travelled through a rainbow tunnel from one venue to another.
Mark said: “I am delighted to be involved with the Northern Lights commission for Look Again on behalf of Spectra. AR is new to me, so its all been a good learning experience. Look Again has been great and it is a huge opportunity to take part in. I hope I have made something fun that the visitors to Spectra will enjoy. I am looking forward to seeing the whole show in person. It will be interesting to see the work of the other artists involved in the Northern lights project.”
Artist, Andrey Chugunov, has created AR sculptures made from 3D scanned artefacts collected from the Aberdeen coastline which form part of a larger project called ‘a space for encapsulation’, to highlight the long and short traces of industrial impact and natural structures found in coastal areas.
He said: “Taking part in Northern Lights is a very rewarding and exciting moment for me. I am delighted to be able to present an Aberdeen-related part of my research. I think that the Northern Lights project is important because the integration of AR sculptures allows us to expand the understanding of public art showing that the digital layer is an integral part of the city space”.
Look Again Creative Director, Sally Reaper, said: “Bringing culture and life to Aberdeen’s city centre at Spectra is vital to our city’s prosperity. It’s important for us to create opportunities for emerging artists to platform and showcase their talent alongside more established artists in Aberdeen. By supporting them and working with partners to enhance the sustainability of the region’s creative sector and wider economy, we are attracting talent back to the area that traditionally may have headed off to the central belt or further afield for similar creative opportunities.”
Look Again’s, Bart Grabski and Gray’s alum said: “I'm excited to be part of the Northern Lights initiative for SPECTRA 2024, through my role as a Digital Media Engagement Co-ordinator for Look Again & Gray's School of Art. My goal is not focused just on managing content; it's about curating a narrative that spotlights the exceptional talents of artists connected to Aberdeen.
“Behind the scenes, there's a dedicated team effort to bring the work of commissioned artists to the forefront. Through our social media channels, we'll be sharing the stories and creations of these talented artists, celebrating the diverse talents that is rooted in our community. I would invite you to find out more about them as we get closer to SPECTRA launch on the 8th of February.”
The artists involved in Northern Light’s project include Kirsty Lawie of local graffiti-specialists Outlines Collective, 3D designer and Gray’s student Kirsty Skea, multi-disciplinary artist Sean Wheelan, 3D animator Si Knox, sculptor and performer Gianni Esporas, and artists Andrey Chugunov, Harry Roberts, Mariana Machalska, Mark Luurtsema, and Sarah Buchan.
SPECTRA is delivered by Aberdeen City Council and created in collaboration with local company Live Event Management.
Spectra runs from 8 - 11 February in Aberdeen city centre.
More information on the festival can be found at SPECTRA 2024.
Main gallery image shows opening night of Spectra 2023 (credit Ian Georgeson). Gallery images show artist Kirty Skea, animations by Harry Roberts, 'Rainbow Head' animations by Mark Luurtsema, imagery by Motion Designer Sarah Buchan, artwork from Outlines Creatives and Si Knox's 'Leopards'.
Video filmed and produced by James Galbraith and Scott Arlow, RGU .
