WORDS FOR THE LIVING, 2021
Live Performance | Beth Derbyshire | WERK
Words for the Living is a live performance in which an individual speaker, communicates a series of words and phrases through a megaphone in public space. The words are commemorative excerpts by loved ones for so many of the key workers who have tragically passed away from Covid 19. The poignant and celebratory recital of words is a living memorial, describing the qualities of these incredible people who lost their lives whilst saving others and is intended to pay homage to loss, whilst inspiring the living through their bravery. The performance will be filmed and presented in the digital space of Into the Parade.
Into the Parade is an online web encounter and live project that explores how arts organisation and practitioners across the Midlands are engaging civically. The digital ‘Civic Centre’ is both tangible and metaphorical concept to explore the role of cultural practice in a civic context. Into the Parade is a cultural intervention that undertakes projects that have online and real-world anchors points and has been initiated by Beth Derbyshire and developed with students from the MA Arts and Project Management course at Birmingham City University.
BETH DERBYSHIRE
SEVEN SEAS, 2007
Seven Seas, Exhibited in The Ultra Lounge as part Project Ocean at Selfridges.
Seven Seas was an installation of seven films is created from seven unique journeys at sea. Each film is crafted in relation to a cultural, political or historical interpretation of that place. The films describe these differing bodies of water in particular ways that reflect our fascination with the sea, and its inspiration of our imaginations over the centuries. The edited footage accentuates the beauty and natural force of the oceans whilst evoking the sea as a place of reflection, myth, and human progress.
The phrase Seven Seas has always been redolent of human endeavour and
exploration, a metaphor for navigating our world both physically and through our
mind’s eye. This installation of seven films was created from seven unique journeys at sea.
Click here to view an excerpt of Seven Seas.
Across the seven screens, the journey begins on the North shores of Britain with dramatic depictions of the North Sea and skies. From here we travel northwards to an eerie, mystical Arctic Ocean, then west to ancient sea-worn rocks, the result of massive geological forces in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Next, inspired by the myths and stories associated with Southern waters, we journey to the iconic lighthouse on Alcatraz Island, then traverse the Pacific in search of Hawaii’s legendary net fishermen. Back towards the East, the fifth film takes us on a pilgrimage across the water to a vertiginous ancient monastery in the Atlantic. From here we travel UK-bound through the seemingly murky international waters of Irish Sea. Finally, we return to Britain via the Cornwall shores at the edge of the Celtic Sea. The seventh film is a study of Godrevy Lighthouse in St. Ives, the inspiration for Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, a symbol of both welcome and warning.
Please see below the link to the simulation of the films.