Y Tyrrau Mawr (Big Towers).
Citation Summary:
Williams, B. (2016), Artist/Exhibitor, Artes Mundi 7, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. (21/10/2016 - 26/02/2017); Adapt to Survive - Notes From the Future, Hayward Gallery, London. (18/04/2018 - 11/06/2018); and Adapt to Survive - Notes From the Future, Hayward Gallery, London. (07/11/2018 - 21/11/2018).
- Submitting institution
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Liverpool John Moores University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 32BW2
- Type
- M - Exhibition
- Venue(s)
- National Museum of Wales
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of first exhibition
- October
- Year of first exhibition
- 2016
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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1 - Contemporary Art Lab
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Y Tyrrau Mawr was a large scale (11m wide) 4K video installation which was presented as part of the Artes Mundi International Prize in 2016. It was the bringing together of two research interests. Technically as an ongoing exploration into the potential of creating virtual environments within which to set narratives and scenarios and secondly as an exploration into the dizzying effect of new megacities and globalisation. The video work which was a continuous twenty-minute loop cycled through a sped-up day and night cycle in the life of a fictional unlikely megacity built around Cader Idris a mountain in south Snowdonia, Wales. A voiceover describes the private lives of a random sample of the city’s inhabitants, their fears and hopes their memories and histories. Darkness falls lights all over the imaginary city turn on giving the illusion of a living city even though there are no people or infrastructure visible. The use of high-res video at such a large scale meant that the work could be contemplated in a way more akin to a painting than a video work and at a cinematic scale which required a great deal of technical research. It is interesting to note that the designer of the lens for the twin projectors used in the installation, a Canon employee, came to view the work as they had not seen the projector utilised in this manner or context previously. The piece was awarded the Derek Williams prize 2016 and is now part of the National Museum of Wales collection and was reviewed favourably in the Guardian (date brackets. Tyrrau Mawr has since been shown at the Hubei Art Museum, China (15/10/17-20/10/17); Concrete Gallery Dubai (7/11/18-21/11/18); the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (04/11/17-31/01/18), Hayward Gallery London (18/04/18-11/06/18); and screening at Tate Britain (19/01/2017).
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
