An Infinite Line: Brighton
The Basement, Brighton
Dates
5 “ 21 May 2008
Part of Brighton Festival
Creative Team
Devised, designed and directed by
David Harradine
Performed by Laura Cubitt,
Jamie McCarthy, David Leahy
& Jamie Bradley
Cine projections and live sound
Mark Webber
Lighting
Jo Manser
Production Manager and design
Ali Beale
Dramaturg
Synne Behrndt
Associate Director
Samantha Butler
Stage Manager
Beth Hoare-Barnes
Assistant Stage Manager
Billy Hiscoke
Installation created by
Mark Webber and David Harradine
Book designed by
Valle Walkley
Phoenix trained by
Kevin Smith and Cindy Morris
Produced by Fuel
An Infinite Line: Brighton was commissioned by the 2008 Brighton Festival, as an exploration of and response to the quality of natural light in Brighton. The project was in three parts: a site-specific performance piece, an installation of 8mm cine films, and a book.
THE PERFORMANCE
The performance of An Infinite Line: Brighton took place in a former print works in the centre of the city, in an underground space devoid of natural light. Rather than trying to recreate the light (why do this when the light itself is already so extraordinary?) the performance presented a series of images, soundscape, texts, actions and lighting events which combined to form a new visual landscape, one which evoked the sensual and subjective experience of the natural light, but didn’t describe it.
Watch video clip
THE INSTALLATION
The installation for An Infinite Line: Brighton took place in the same space as the performance, during the day. It consisted of thirty 8mm cine projectors, projecting short films depicting the light falling on the natural and urban landscapes of Brighton. Ranging from the abstract (light as a wash of colour on the churning surface of the sea) to the literal (the mirror ball turning slowly on top of the pier) the films, projected onto blocks of chalk – like the chalk of the local cliffs – created a flickering and constantly changing environment of colour, light and sound.
Watch video clip
THE BOOK
Created in collaboration with book designers Valle Walkley, the book version of An Infinite Line: Brighton is a collection of writings which describe in words the mercurial and ephemeral light as it changes across a day, across seasons, and across a year.
Buy the book
“An ambitious, impressionistic tribute to Brighton’s light and weather. A sensory, dreamlike show with some ingenious painterly coups de theatre.”
The Financial Times
“Strongly evocative….the visual installations work beautifully and it’s hard not to be seduced by Harradine and his company’s vision.”
The Independent
“Like light, An Infinite Line is ever changing. Powerful and magnificent.”
The Guardian Critics Picks
“The performance has moments of surreal beauty and hallucinatory quality, much like the light itself.”
The Argus