photo | John Sturrock
The trains about to depart.
Coal Drops Yard
Shot by John Sturrock
On the night before the NHS Birthday we Lit it Blue and illuminated Coal Drops Yard, the new shopping centre that Thomas Heatherwick's studio has completed in London, in a pair of distorted warehouses by the commuter hub of King’s Cross Station that leads trains to the north.
Here you see the complex engineering led to a sculptural ‘kissing point’ between the buildings that we projected our message on, on Saturday night.
Shot by John Sturrock
Shot by John Sturrock
We could no longer Kiss
Well, not out of your isolation group, anyway! Heatherwick Studio converted two converted Victorian coal warehouses in King's Cross to create 9,290 square metres of amazing independent shops and restaurants. The roofs of the two buildings have been extended towards each other and join to form a canopy over the central space, which Heatherwick described as a "new major public space for London," And of course, in this time the public could not come to the shops, bars and restaurants.
July 4th, the day of the projection, was the first day many reopened and its only thanks to the work of the NHS and the many people on the Front Line what enabled this. Along with the Clapping Hands we projected a Happy Birthday message with a reminder of the 5pm time to join the nations last clap, that the NHS themselves requested.
Many of the projections have just had the solemn, silent clapping Hands on the lonely streets, this one with more of the public able to see in what was a bustling Coal Drops Yard saw the introduction of some more things, including the three new hands that Ian made, representing washing them, greeting with them, and also handing some flowers in hope, to represent hop and inspired by David Hockney’s message, ‘do remember, they cannot take away the Spring.’
Children’s Art
There was also a projection of some children’s art up on the kissing roofs at Coal Drop Yard. At the end of the day, when this all started, everyone wanted to see children’s art in the window. The rainbows led the way now some creative children have their creativity projected.
And Twenty International Artists Hands
Max Zorn
Juan Manuel Gomez
Daisy Collingridge
Marcus Aitken
Sophie Standing
Andre Veloux
Kirstie Adamson
Cas Holmes
Jess Wilson
Benjamine Murphy
Will Rochfort
Clockwork Press
Alicja Kozlow
Beatrice Beraud
Ruth Fox
Terry Aske
Rachadi Zahira
In another project Ian was involved in, Paint the Change Global, where artists submitted flowers to represented 200 nationalities that work within the NHS - it was made into an animation and projected. Ian Berry’s denim flower is there in the middle.
A Berry Poetic Ending
It ended with a poem.