THE GLASSHOUSE

June 2006

A temporary performance installation at the Chance’s Glass Factory, Spon Lane, Smethwick.

Kindle Theatre directed this site-specific show to ‘encompass and combine new modes of multidisciplinary performance, visual and fine arts, and design and architecture with site-specific research’.

I participated in this project with seven other commissioned artists to work in the ares of photography, film, light installation, willow sculpture, electro-acoustic sound, built structures and performance poetry to create a vibrant and dynamic context for the performance. The other artists included Iris Bertz, Lynette Clee
Jerome Harrington, Annie Mahtani, Kimberly Trusty and Keir Williams

The project was based upon the legacy of the historic glass factory which had far reaching consequences for both the local area and the development of glass for the industrial age. The press release explains

‘Chance Brothers Ltd was a major manufacturer of sheet, optical and decorative glass and achieved global success spanning two centuries from 1824 - 1967. Examples of Chance glass can be found on the faces of Big Ben, the walls of The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park and in decorative windows in the White House. Research into Chance history will take you around the world; their lighthouses can be found on the shores of India, Singapore and Zanzibar.’

My contribution to this project was to incorporate archival and personal images and words from former Chance’s employees into a suspended light installation. The installation was a combination of 30 bare light bulbs and 30 images that were printed onto fabric and hung around another 30 bulbs. Each of the images were layered with words taken from recorded conversations with over 20 people.

Thanks to: Kate Hadley for help in the manufacture of the cotton prints; Rich Franks for supplying the archive images from Multistory.