By: Jony Easterby

A collection of works featuring animated landscapes sourced from grassland and forest, hedgerows, bonsai trees given the gift of scale, woodland sprites and slomo flying creatures. The audience is invited to follow a trail of installations that fill the park with a series of ethereal electronic animated encounters with the natural world.  

For Jony Easterby, the contrast of darkness and light is the very essence of life and creativity. Ruled by brightness and shadows: day and night, winter and summer, sunshine and clouds. His work reflects not only his passion for the natural world alongside his anxiety for its uncertain ecological future.

Join us as Williamson Park is transformed during Light Up Lancaster…

a. Cuckoo Ensemble

Cuckoo clock bellows and whistle mechanisms taken from clocks have been stripped down ,mounted in brass cages with motors and cams and have been repurposed in this ensemble. Remnant ecological sounds of the wild population of cuckoos are fixed in time despite their decline and risk of extinction. More people have heard a cuckoo clock than a cuckoo in nature.

b. Sprites

A simple motor and slip ring mechanism flickers these LEDs mounted on wires into  animated life giving us a unique fleeting glimpse of the woodland in flickering dynamic shadows cast by their fleeting life force.

c. Blackbird Song

Blackbird song often acts as an indicator of territoral space, whilst overlapping in our ears as a chorus .This vocal round is spread over multiple small bird box like speakers, the overlapping melodies harmonising randomly creating infinite melodic combinations. The song was composed, sung and recorded by the vocalist and song writer Lisa Knapp.

d. Hawthorn Flash

The shadows of a grubbed out hawthorn hedge remnants are back lit, animated within light boxes and synced to a throbbing soundtrack.

e. Cage Shadows

The cages are empty and the birds have flown leaving the shadows to keep us entranced. Two different coloured LEDs are mounted on slowly moving cams to create dynamic and contrasting shadows forming a new architecture of space and form.

f. Shadow Boxes

Hawthorn twigs, contorted hazel, corokia cotoneaster, poppy heads and other dried plants are mounted inside wooden boxes. A fading cycle of coloured LEDs create a subtle shifting montage of overlayed shadows.

g. Holographic Bonsai

During the artists exploration into growing bonsai he was able to film these bare root trees during repotting and their occasional demise. Bonsais are formed by the slow stunted growth of trees constricted in pots. Here they are released and given the gift of scale again through the power of holographic projection.

h. Succession

This monumental projection explores a montaged narrative of vegetive succession, where one habitat replaces another, from field to forest ,to a climax of a monocultural plantation. The animations of plants, animals and tree growth were all created from hand drawn elements taken from existing trees and old etchings, alongside captures of birds, dust and a scything reaper. Original drawings by Pippa Taylor.

i. Night Flight

Miniscule flying insects were filmed by the artist at dusk with a macro lens and high speed camera. Slowed down to 1/40^th of their speed and magnified to scale, these flying creatures of the night create a mesmerising dance and regularly hold hands in their mating dance.