On a chilly Friday night at the end of November, Temple Quarter became an artists’ playground, when 30 local artists were given three hours to explore the area at night and make a completely new artwork with their findings.
Staged at Paintworks on Bath Road, City Running was the launch event for the new BTQ Commissions project, which aims to create new pop-up cultural and creative experiences to animate the Zone.
Artists were invited to come along to Jackdaw Hall at Paintworks for a 7.30pm dinner, and then at 9pm, to the sound of Chariots of Fire and cheers from an enthusiastic audience, they were released into the Enterprise Zone to begin their reconnaissance. Some artists travelled up to a mile into the zone, some chose a spot close by and observed the night, some ran, some walked, some danced.
From 10pm, the artists began to return to Paintworks, bringing with them photographs, sketches, footage, objects and stories from their hours exploration, and for the next two hours the space was a hive of activity, with dancers working next to musicians, printmakers alongside digital artists, photographers alongside stone sculptors. At 12am the completed work was presented to the audience. All the work created at City Running was inspired by the Zone, included film, dance, poetry, photography, printmaking and even a re-imagining of the Enterprise Zone as the Loch Ness monster.
“The Enterprise Zone will bring new work spaces, shops, markets, restaurants, machines and traffic. A whole new array of vibration and resonance, to playfully explore and experience.” Artist Lee Nutbean
Footage from the night is currently being put together and will be added to the MAYK website in the next couple of weeks. More about the BTQ Commissions project: Animating the Zone.
Thanks to all the artists and audience for making City Running such a successful night.
