Acclaimed artist, illustrator and typographer Sam Winston’s new immersive work Darkness Visible opens in the newly commissioned Dark Room at Southbank Centre’s National Poetry Library.
This unique participatory installation documents the artist SAM WINSTON living and creating in absolute darkness for seven days and nights and explores perception and the spoken word – with soundscape by poets KAYO CHINGONYI, EMILY BERRY and GEORGE SZIRTES whose new poems, on what they could not see, were also created out of complete darkness residencies...
SAM says: “I make things out of looking – the idea of going ‘under’ or without images fascinated me. What landscapes are available to the image maker and writer when they are only given an internal view for 168 hours? I had set off into the dark looking for views by which to draw but what was most striking was the absence of pictures and how revealing a landscape that was……”
The public are now invited into the dark to experience the creative impact of darkness in the newly commissioned Dark Room on Level 5 of the Royal Festival Hall. The National Poetry Library is completely covered in text, writings and drawings by SAM during his revelatory time in the dark: the often overlooked world beyond what we see.
SAM’s project extends and develops even further in the New Year, with a 90 minute live, immersive cinematic event exploring darkness, the written word and poetic narratives at WHITECHAPEL GALLERY on Thursday 11 January 2018 developed with BAFTA award winning filmmaker ANNA PRICE. As the event unfolds traditional cinematic forms break down into a collage of soundscapes with musician JAMIE PERERA, photography from ANDY SEWELL and spoken word with live performances by poets KAYO CHINGONYI, EMILY BERRY and GEORGE SZIRTES. The evening also incorporates periods of complete blackout and silence.
DARKNESS VISIBLE invites you to engage with what happens beyond the visible - and to place the darkness at the centre of your perception…….
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Trailer to DARKNESS VISIBLE: https://vimeo.com/238785386 Photography request publicity@dgpr.co.uk
DARKNESS VISIBLE by SAM WINSTON Immersive Participatory Installation
Dates: FRIDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2017 – END OF JANUARY 2018 Press Day Thursday 16 November 11.00am – 3.00pm Opening Ticketed Event Thursday 16 November 2017 at 7.30pm
Times: 11am-8pm (1100hrs-2000hrs) Unique participatory installation and Dark Room by artist SAM WINSTON
Venue: National Poetry Library, Level 5 Blue side, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London, SE1 8XX
Entrance: Free. www.southbankcentre.co.uk
DARKNESS VISIBLE by SAM WINSTON Screening and Event
Date: Thursday 11 January 2018
Time: 7pm – 9pm (1900hrs-2100hrs) Venue: Whitechapel Gallery 77-78 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX Tickets & Box Office: £9.50 / concessions £7.50. www.whitechapelgallery.org
SAM’s project extends further into a 90 minute live, immersive cinematic event exploring darkness, the written word and poetic narratives. As the event unfolds traditional cinematic forms break down into soundscape, photography and spoken word. The evening also incorporates periods of complete blackout and silence – a collage of poetry, photography and soundscapes. Sam Winston (Bologna Ragazzi Award, NYT bestseller, Art V&A, Wellcome, MoMA, Tate, Getty institute. Sam and Oliver Jeffers wrote and illustrated the award winning children’s book A Child Of Books) Emily Berry, (Forward Prize, Hawthornden Prize, editor of The Poetry Review) George Sirtzes (Faber Memorial Prize, Man Booker International winner [translation] T. S. Eliot Prize) Kayo Chingonyi (Penguin books, ICA poet in residence) Andy Sewell - photography Anna Price - Film maker / Editor (BAFTA winning Life & Death Row, Louis Theroux, Storyville, BBC, Channel 4) Jamie Perera - musician / sound design (Serpentine Gallery, BBC, Greenpeace, Amnesty)
For further information, experiencing the Dark Room + interviews please contact Deborah Goodman at DGPR on +44 (0)208 959 9980 publicity@dgpr.co.uk