Shooting Star

We are honoured Historic Coventry Trust and their partner Arup have asked us to research the creative potential of Electro-Luminescent (EL) wire ahead of a huge performance they are planning next year for Coventry City of Culture 2021.

As an art material EL wire is quite costly and well outside our budget but it was made possible through the generous sponsorship by Arup, a UK company that has played a central role in the design and development of many of the world’s outstanding cultural institutions.

At start we created a plan what the collective piece would look like and we mapped out that the inner 6 diamond shapes were going to be created by people shielding at home and the tail and outer 6 shards by people who were attending our face-to-face group at Eaton House.

And then the 2^nd lockdown happened and the whole plan went to pot!

And yet, everyone had the opportunity to work first with their own set of EL wires and after a few trials and tribulations we got the hang of attaching it to board using nails, hammer, tape, and then finally PVA before removing nails again. Everyone was able to work at their own pace and even those suffering with arthritis and fibromyalgia completed their piece in time for assembly and despite the pain whilst hammering thoroughly enjoyed the process.

The first time we saw the piece assembled and lighting up the darkness we were truly overbowled! The colours are stunning and even though the 13 pieces were created individually, in the end they do work very well together and Shooting Star does look like a whole. 

Shooting Star is now lighting up a window on Arty-Folks 1st floor Eaton House by Coventry Railway Station and we will keep it lit continuously only 24-26 December. We are wishing you a wonderful festive season, a fantastic start to 2021, and good riddance to 2020!