The immersive show going on at the huge, former Holy Trinity Church in Bow this weekend has got the green light.
And the red light. And the purple light. The entire spectrum, actually. They’re calling it “an immersive subterranean audio-visual miasma”, and it’ll be the work of a quartet of different artists aiming to celebrate the church’s history through the medium of cool, moving projections & ambient music.
That history starts waaaay back in 1841 when the high venue was first built. A few thousand christenings later, it was finally closed in the mid ’80s and, despite being rented out now and again, fell into major disrepair and dilapidation. A couple of years ago, some lotto money arrived to help to patch up the holes in the roof and make it watertight, and it’s since been given a new name, and a new mission: The Heritage & Arts Centre Bow.
That mission is to become a proper, first-class arts and events centre. But it’s not quite there yet. Although though the floors have been swept, and the windows have been patched up, it’s still crumbling on the inside – so all the cash made from the event is going to be poured straight into the restoration fund.
As for what you can expect this weekend? Well, the plan is to drench the venue in something called “liquid light”, which basically comprises ever-shifting, slightly psychedelic live visual projections first invented in the ’60s. It’s all going to be all aided by ambient sound, and some “interactive live visual projection”. Quite what the interactive element is hasn’t been made clear, but that’s frequently the nature of experiential shows like this.
Will it be any good? Well, simply for sheer scale, the space is guaranteed to impress, and the four artists they have roped in (light show artist Julian Hand; composer Joe Harvey-Whyte; experimental filmmaker Heena Song; and Argentinian DJ Dylan Glanz) all have pretty good track records. So, it ought to meet expectations.
But don’t take that as gospel.
NOTE: Light the HAC takes place from 6pm-9pm on the evening of Saturday November 13th. The church is a 5 minute walk from Mile End station. Tickets cost £10 and you can get them right HERE.
The Heritage & Arts Centre | Holy Trinity Bow, Morgan Street, E3 5AA
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