The Rising Sun – Press Release

THE RISING SUN
Experience Romford in a new light

15 JULY – 30 JULY 2022
PRESS INVITED 14 and 15 JULY

Media Folder

This July, Variable Matter, an artist collective led by award-winning avant-garde artist David Shearing, known for his immersive multimedia environments and spaces, unveils The Rising Sun a striking light-responsive public art installation which explores and celebrates the complexities and changing identities of East London and Essex.

Designed to conceptually represent a public house on the outside, on the inside spectators will be bathed in a haze of light that follows the movements of the sun. The magical and evocative space inviting contemplation will also be filled with a soundscape featuring the moving stories of local people mapping their life journeys of arrival, living, loving, and longing.

Situated in Shearing’s home-town of Romford in the borough of Havering, the two-time winner of the World Stage Design awards for Installation (2013 and 2017), explains that this unique spectacle, which will sit proudly at the centre of Romford’s historic marketplace will be ground-breaking in many ways. He says: “Inspiring and unusual art can animate our public spaces and help to bring us together. Like so many town centres, Romford is a different place following Covid, with the loss of many major retailers, and a different night-time economy landscape. I wanted to create accessible art that would inspire a sense placemaking.”

Shearing adds: “The Rising Sun is a snapshot of everyday people, shining a light on nuanced and hidden narratives of the local community, not the stereotypes that are often portrayed in this unique and changing outer East London town. Public houses are at the heart of our communities and can serve as a place of philosophical conversation. I hope this piece of art will encourage debate about what’s possible in our town centres by building a sense of destination and pride.”

The borough of Havering has the 4^th lowest level of public arts engagement in London, placing it firmly in the bottom third of places nationally, however this installation, which is commissioned in partnership with Romford Business Improvement District (BID), Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and is also supported by Havering Changing, a consortium of local organisations, is part of a wider progressive strategy being undertaken in the borough to trial radical new ideas to engage local people in arts and culture in different ways. The research impact of the project is supported by Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Mathew Russell, Queen Theatre Hornchurch’s Executive Director comments: “It’s great to see work of this ambition in Havering. As a sub-regional producing theatre, ‎we’re increasingly interested in different forms theatre might take and how this can animate a variety of exciting locations, reaching new audiences. Romford High Street is dear to our heart, and it’s brilliant that an award-winning artist of David Shearing’s stature is creating work for an iconic public space in Havering for the very first time. It’s definitely going to be a highlight of this summer.’

Julie Frost, Romford’s BID director adds: “Town centres can no longer be conceived as merely places of economic exchange. Rather they must be understood as areas which are to provide an ‘experience.’ They are spaces into which the individual person can derive their own unique understanding and sense of fulfilment from what is on offer around them. The Rising Sun captures the very essence of this.”

Havering is also embarking on a £1billion regeneration scheme. As one of the fastest changing boroughs in the country it has been identified as having the highest predicted growth in 0-24 year olds in Greater London*. While 25% of the population are from Minority Ethnic groups this jumps to 40% of young people at primary & secondary school age. The recent opening of the Elizabeth Line will further transform its shifting population and fortunes in the future.

The installation can also be experienced by a wider audience online via an interactive digital website in which viewers will be able to click on and ‘ease-drop’ into the many captured voices. The online binaural soundscape has been built in partnership with artist/composer James Bulley and Rabbit Hole, a creative agency known for their leading digital work for Coldplay.

Variable Matter is an artist collective led by David Shearing which aims to bring about change: environmental, political and social by creating intimate, and at times spectacular, art and performance to engage audiences both physically and conceptually using video, sound and organic materials. They believe in the power of design to inspire new forms of connection and experience and to better promote social and environmental justice.  David Shearing is Lecturer in Performance at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and is currently researching placemaking, design and performance.

Friday 15 July – Saturday 30 July 2022
08:00 – 20:00 daily
Romford Market / Online
Free (no booking required)
www.variablematter.com

David Shearing – Artist (www.davidshearing.com)
Laura Ann Price – Art Director (www.lauraannprice.co.uk)
James Bulley – Sound Designer (www.jamesbulley.com)
Ash Bowmott, Laura Sweeney – Executive Producers (www.the-uncultured.com)
Veionella Spaine – Project Manager (www.linktr.ee/veispaine)
Ryszard Lewandowski – Production Manager (www.kitmapper.com
Ed Borgnis – Technical Manager (www.borgnis.com)
Rabbit Hole – Website & Identity (www.rabbithole.co.uk)

For all media enquiries and press show tickets please contact Diana Whitehead

diana@fourthwallpr.co.uk

Tel: 07939 149887

Note to editors

The borough of Havering suffered the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the whole of London between October 2020-February 2021.Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

* Findings and statistics: A New Direction Cultural Education Context Data for Havering report – October 2021

About Romford
Romford is the Metropolitan Centre in LB Havering with a unique strategic role within northeast London and Essex. It is also a historic Market Town and one of the largest retail and leisure districts in London, with five shopping centres within the town centre itself. 

About David Shearing
David Shearing is a multi award-winning artist who creates immersive multimedia environments and spaces. He is interested in howaudiences engage both physically and conceptually with design and installation art. He explores audience engagement by creating intimate, and at times spectacular, art and performance installations using video, sound and organic materials. He won World Stage Design awards for Installation in 2013 and 2017.  He is Lecturer in Performance at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Recent work includes, Black Rock (2017), selected for the UK national exhibition of Performance Design (2019). The Weather Café (2016) a weather responsive café in the heart of the city of Leeds. In 2014 David was award a Sky Academy Arts Scholarship and produced The Weather Machine (2015) in partnership with West Yorkshire Playhouse and stage@leeds which was awarded Silver at the World Stage Design exhibition 2017. In 2013 and it all comes down to this… won the Gold award at World Stage Design for best Installation design.

About Variable Matter
Led by David Shearing, Variable Matter is an artist-led collective working across design, art, intervention and performance. Established in 2020 by David Shearing www.davidshearing.com, with the aim to bring about change: environmental, political and social, through high quality and rigorous artistic projects.

About Romford BID
Romford BID is an organisation that seeks to harness the combined power of the public and private sector to improve our town centre and stimulate sustainable prosperity in Romford town centre, all while creating a strong voice for the Romford town centre business community.

About Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch (QTH) is a vibrant producing theatre, working in Outer East London, Essex and beyond. As a cultural hub, over 210,000 people enjoy the programme each year. Audiences are guaranteed a warm welcome from a three-year winner of UK Theatre’s Most Welcoming Theatre (2016 – 2018) and London Theatre of the Year 2020 (The Stage Awards), the first Outer London theatre to receive this prestigious award.

About Havering Changing
Havering Changing is an Arts Council England funded Creative People and Places Project which supports local people, living and working, in Harold Hill, Orchard Village, Rainham and Romford to choose, create and take part in their own programme of inspiring arts and culture. 

About The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama is a higher education conservatoire – a specialist college of the University of London which nurtures creative collaboration. Courses include acting, applied theatre, movement, musical theatre, drama & movement therapy, theatre & live performance, scenography, actor & teacher training, voice, technical arts & production, and writing for stage & broadcast media.

With over 60 academic staff, together with visiting artists and lecturers, Central has the largest grouping of drama/theatre/performance specialists in the UK, an active research culture and is a hub of innovation and engagement for the theatre and performance industries.