LDN24 is a media art installation by The Light Surgeons for the Museum of London‘s Sackler Hall. It presents an anthropomorphic portrait of London that reveals the abstract dance of this 24-hour city. It explores the capital as a physical organism and its hidden relationship with a larger, digital landscape, creating a cardiogram of the city that perpetually reflects the ‘now’.

The film was created by a group of visual artist through an extensive series of visual studies around London in 2009. The resulting 30 minute film charts a daily cycle of the city which is then translated onto the surrounding LED curatin as a stream of live data feeds. These information feeds are being continually updated via the web and continually re-printed by the hands of a giant RGB clock.

LDN24 is a commission by the Museum of London in collaboration with Film London.

Director: Christopher Allen
Producer: Alice Ceresole
Editor: Tim Cowie
Visual Production: Christopher Allen, Tim Cowie, Dean Moore, James Price, Rita Ribas, Stuart York
Data Visualisation: Field.io
Sound Design: Tim Cowie, Malcolm Litson
Locations: Alice Ceresole, Dan Fellows
Research: Peter Brenan, Laura Hannay
Production Assistant: Helen Omand

Support from:

BAA Heathrow, Broadgate Estates, Regis House (London Bridge), Bywaters, City Academy Hackney, City of London Corporation, Billingsgate Market, City of London Film Office, City of London Police, Smithfield Market, Clissold Leisure Centre, Cory Environmental Limited, Film London, Greater London Authority, Invista Real Estate, Investment Management, Land Securities, IPC Helipad, London Borough Film Units, London Underground Film Office, More London Estates Ltd, Network Rail, Newsfax International Ltd, Novotel London St Pancras, Panasonic UK, St Paul’s Cathedral, Tesco

Special thanks to:

Bob and Maggie Allen, Kevin Foakes, Helen Omand, Ed Purver, Olivier Ruellet, Laura Hannay, Victoria Tremble
The installation will be on display in the museum until 2012 and is free entry to the public.

The Light Surgeons where commissioned create the visuals for the after party for prestigious Design & Art Direction Awards at the Roundhouse in London in 2010. The bespoke visuals were inspired by the theme ‘tools of the trade’ and combined generative, processing visuals that where mixed with motion graphics.

The event also featured live sets by Fyfe Dangefeld and Chew Lips for whom we also provided visuals.

Directed by Chris Allen
Filmed by Chris Allen and Dean G Moore
Edited by Jude Greenaway and Dean G Moore
Programming by Olivier Reullet
Live mixing on the night Chris Allen and Olivier Ruellet
Produced by Alice Ceresole

Documentation edited by Dean G Moore
Music:  Opiuo “The Freaky Bean”

With thanks to London College of Communications who let us film their fantastic letter presses.

The programme has been developed to showcase objects from the Crafts Council Collection – CraftCube: Collection – and to champion the work of Research Fellows that are at the cutting edge of contemporary practice – CraftCube: Research. Each CraftCube is an individual display environment, including objects and interpretation.

GRAY TWISTED LOOP: MERETE RASMUSSEN

The film features a set of two synchronized short films which reveal the ceramic processes involved in the creation of the piece entitled “Twisted Grey Loop”. Put together by The Light Surgeons they form the audio visual content produced for the Craft Council’s set of touring installations, know as The CraftCube initiative.

In this instant, the film on the top was projected onto a large projection surface on the wall of the CraftCube, while the film on the bottom was presented through large plasma screen embedded into the surface of a display case, which also houses the finished object its self.

NAP: ANGELA JARMAN

The film features a set of two synchronized short films which together protrait the processes involved in the creation of a piece of her worked entitled “NAP”. Put together by The Light Surgeons they form the audio visual content produced for the Craft Council’s set of touring installations, know as The CraftCube initiative.

The film on the top was projected onto a large projection surface on the wall of the CraftCube, while the film on the bottom was presented through large plasma screen embedded into the surface of a display case, which also houses the finished object itself.

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Director and editor: Tim Cowie
Camera: Dave Baum
Producer: Alice Ceresole
Design and build of cube: Millimetre

Short music lead video documenting life in London using footage taken from our LDN24 installation project at the Museum of London. All footage in this film was shot using Panasonic’s Lumix GH1 micro SLR digital camera which was loaned to us by Panasonic during the production phase of the installation.

The film uses the track “All Covered in Darkness” by our good friend Mr Dj Food and was created specially for Panasonic’s website.

Director: Christopher Allen
Producer: Alice Ceresole
Editor: Christopher Allen
Camera: Christopher Allen, Tim Cowie, Stuart York

This audio visual installation was produced in collaboration with Ron Arad associates and commissioned by fashion company Notify for the Pitti Uomo 77 men’s fashion fair in Florence in 2010. The project explores the various manufacturing processes involved in the production of Notify jeans and shoes, turning these hand made and mechanical processes into an abstract piece of futurist art. The final installation used a 30 metre long wall of 6mm pitch LED covered with a thin membrate of plastic with an additional set of video projection over the top. The peice was on display for 5 days during the fashion fair.

Camera & Direction: Chris Allen, Jude Greenaway & Barney Steel
Editing: Jude Greenaway & Jolyon Greenaway
Motion: Jolyon Greenaway
Music: digitalaudiodesign.co.uk
Production: Alice Ceresole & Miranda Davis

Maybe some people are just born unlucky? This documentary film weaves together a diverse collection of different voices from London’s Jewish community to explore the concept of “luck” or “mazel”. From lucky charms and curses to global economics and quantum physics, this humorous and philosophical piece of visual poetry navigates the boundaries between religion and superstition to ask how the invisible hand of mazel has touched us all.

Commissed by The Jewish Film Festival & supported by the Pears Foundation
Co-producted with Pilgrim Films in 2009

Festivals:

UK Jewish Film Festival 2009
London Short Film Festival 2010
SXSW 2010

Director: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer: Andrew Hinton
Assistant Producer: Alice Ceresole

“The Living Room” was an art installation commissioned by the Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, London in 2005. The Project drew from a variety of material gathered through systematic research focusing on a selection of 8 homes and their occupants. Presented as a collection of documentary films, audio interviews, photography and print works; this multimedia art exhibition addressed peoples’ individuality through the looking glass of their living spaces.

This installation was later developed and expanded into a larger exhibition entitled “Domestic Archaeology” at the Geffrye Museum in east London in 2006.

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Concept: Chris Allen & Robert Rainbow
Collaborating Artists: Chris Allen, Robert Rainbow, Brede Korsmo, Jude Greenaway and Tim Cowie
Producer Alice Ceresole

In December 2006 The Light Surgeons produced and curated a cross-disciplinary art exhibition on the south bank that was commissioned by Nokia Nseries. Articulated was a group show that brought together a cross section of artists from different practices and organizations to transform London’s OXO Barge House with a series of multimedia installations, a cinema space, talks and creative interventions into the surrounding area.

Articulated explored our relationship to space with a collection of commissioned and curated works that engaged with the public through interviews and debate. Each of these works investigated the human condition through the real or imagined boundaries of our everyday lives.

It was a truly unique collaboration which explored the thresholds between public and private space, unraveling a multitude of human stories from London’s cultural metropolis.

ARTICULATED

Exhibition Signage: Millimetre

OBJECTS OF NO FIXED ABODE

Mixed media installation: Pete Codling

I’VE BEEN PLACES I’VE NEVER VISITED

Director: Russel Harris

Live Performance piece which took place in and around the Barge House and along the Southbank.

TRANSIT

Mixed media installation: Christopher Thomas Allen

PROTOCOL

Photographic & Video Installation

Featuring Photography by Chris Allen, Alice Ceresole, Lenka Clayton, Paul O’Connor, Brede Korsmo & James Price
Video Installation By Bilal Main

SINGLE STORY BUILDING

Interactive installation: Blast Theory, created in 2002.

TRUE COLD

Video installation: Blast Theory, created in 2002.

HOMAGE TO THE LOST

Video installation: Brede Korsmo

CITY FOR GRANTED

Video Installation: Tim Cowie

Interviews and field Recordings by Chris Allen, Brede Korsmo, Annie Kwan, James Price & Rob Rainbow
Photography by Chris Allen, Brede Korsmo, Annie Kwan, James Price & Rob Rainbow

CONVERSATION

Video installation: James Price & Lenka Clayton

This installation has also been edited as a film and has toured extensively appearing at international festivals including:
Britdoc, Oxford, July 2007
Hotdocs, Toronto, Canada. PDX, Portland, Oregon, USA, April 2008
Iranian International Documentary Festival, Tehran, October 2008
FLEXfest, Gainsville, Florida, USA, 2009

DIALOG

Mixed media installation: Christopher Thomas Allen

This installation continues to tour art exhibitions internationally:

Out Side The Box, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, England, 2007
Media_City Seoul 2008 – the 5th International Media Art Biennale, Seoul, South Korea, 2008
Biennale Cuvee 09, A World Selection Of Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria, 2009

DEBATE

Mixed media installation: Christopher Thomas Allen & James Price

FROM CEREALS COME CIVILISATION

Video installation: Robert Rainbow

FOOD FOR LIVING THINGS

Mixed media installation: Robert Rainbow

CERBERES

Photographic installation: Marion Lefebvre

ARTICULATED LOUNGE

On the top floor of the exhibition there was an interactive lounge space and cinema curated by onedotzero festival. This contained interactive terminals with archive material supplied by the British Film Institute, sound installations by audio artist Scanner, a program of short films shown in a cinema space with additional screening programs from Halloween Society and a series of talks by guest speakers including the writer Ian Sinclair.

Concept: Christopher Thomas Allen, Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow & Annie Kwan
Curator: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer: Annie Kwan

Curated by Christopher Thomas Allen as part of the Articulated Exhibition.

Photography by: by Chris Allen, Marion Lefebvre, Alice Ceresole,
Lenka Clayton, Paul O’Connor, Brede Korsmo & James Price

Domestic Archaeology was a cross-media art project created by The Light Surgeons that was exhibited at the Geffrye Museum in East London in 2006. The work on show was developed through a process of audio-visual journalism that explores the issues surrounding identity through the study of Londoners and their rich mixture of living spaces.

The project excavated personal stories, memories, objects and meanings that were re-assembled as multimedia installations, offering a reflection on the changing condition of domestic space as well as our more psychological boundaries associated with them.

This exhibition has been documented as a limited addition dual layer DVD, including a set of six postcards of artwork from the exhibition. Currently available from Magma books and the BFI store South Bank, London.

Collaborating Artists: Christopher Thomas Allen, Brede Korsmo, Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow & Tim Cowie
Original Concept: Christopher Thomas Allen & Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow
Production Director: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer & research: Annie Kwan
Production Assistant: Rouzbeh Nafarieh
Animation: Tim Cowie
Exhibition Design: Millimetre
Concrete Wallpaper: Eric Barret
Workshops: Counterproductions
Smells: The Aroma Company
Print Artwork: IGMA & C3
Website design: Philip O’Dwyer