St Peter’s Church in Bournemouth was transformed for an evening into a canvas for the live projection mapping of animated videos made by the students on the BA (Hons) Animation Production degree at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).
The project, led by projection mapping and visual arts specialists Light Art Creatives in Poole, is part of a National Lottery bid to see the final work on semi-permanent display in Bournemouth town centre.
Julian Dorrell, Director at Light Art Creatives, explains how the project came about:
“On a recent visit to Montréal, I was captivated by how they’d brought the city’s history to life with some incredibly impressive projection mapping.”
One of the largest outdoor video-projection installations in the world, Cité Mémoire, is an ongoing art installation that currently features more than 20 tableaux composed of images, dialogue and music projected on walls, in alleys, on the ground and on trees throughout Montréal.
“I wanted to bring some of that magic to Bournemouth,” Julian continues. “So, when I came home, I began making enquiries around the town centre to see how and where something like this could work.”
St Peter’s in the heart of Bournemouth, notable for being the final resting place of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, expressed interested in Julian’s heritage project from the beginning.
“We’re looking to tell the history and culture of Bournemouth through animation, theatre and film projected on to the front of St Peter’s by installing a permanent projection mapping system," says Julian. “It’s really encouraging to see a historical and significant institution being so forward thinking and proactively embracing the idea of using technology.”
The current stage of the project is a proof of concept, which will be used for funding and sponsorship applications. An event is currently in development to showcase the idea to the local community and is planned for either late September or October of this year.
Bryony Smith is one of the second year BA (Hons) Animation Production students that designed animations for testing as a proof of concept on St Peter’s.
“My animation showed Mary Shelley working at her writing slope, currently in the Keats-Shelley House in Rome," Bryony says. "Artistically, I was influenced by illustrations of Frankenstein using etching and I also chose to recreate her handwriting from her early drafts of Frankenstein to spell out her full name and lifetime.”
“I found the process working with Julian Dorrell and staff incredibly rewarding. It's so unusual to see your animation anywhere other than your own screen, so seeing it not only out in the world, but placed onto a historic building was really wonderful. It was so nice to feel my work was also connecting to the history of the building. The project made me view animation outside of just filmmaking and consider new ways to reach audiences and tell stories.”
Julian adds, “This is the second year we have worked with the AUB animation department and the quality of the students' work has continued to be of a professional and commercial standard. We are looking forward to making this collaboration more formal and expanding upon the departments that we work with.
“By utilising local talent and resources we aim to keep the values of local collaboration at the forefront of the projects ethos.”
Jane MacDonald, Parish Warden at St Peter’s, comments, “We are delighted to be able to showcase these incredibly talented artists in this magical way. It brings to life the cultural heritage of the past whilst hopefully inspiring the artists, writers and musicians of the future who study at this wonderful university, with whom we are so proud to partner.”
