An Infinite Line: Brighton

The Basement, Brighton

Dates

5 to 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

 

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.

The book is priced at £10, plus £3.70 p&p.
Payments are managed via PayPal.

“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