Published: Monday, 26th October 2020
Sunday night saw the launch of DRAWDOWN, a new town-scale outdoor projection project for King’s Lynn.
The project focuses on highlighting ways to reverse the effects of climate change, with each of the vibrant projections drawing attention to a different theme: Emissions at The Minster; Afforestation at St Nicholas’ Chapel; Water at The Custom House; Energy at Greyfriars Tower.
The projections highlight solutions - ways to reverse climate change that we can adopt, with more information set to be released on social media over the course of the project as part of a countdown of the most impactful ways to reverse our effect on the planet.
DRAWDOWN has been created by artist Ben Sheppee. In an interview about the project Ben explained how the research was prompted by the interruptions we’ve all experienced this year, and how there’s an opportunity to reflect on our lifestyle choices: “The difficulty with climate change is that many of us have become desensitised to it and feel like we are being told off for the state of the planet. I came across Drawdown, a project led by an international group of scientists who are proposing how to reverse the effects of climate change based on hard research. They've come up with a report ranking 100 ways to reverse climate change, with #1 being the most effective in sequestering carbon from the environment. To create this work, I’ve focused on the most relevant subjects for King’s Lynn, tailoring the selected solutions to the locality.”
The project is produced by arts organisation Collusion, who have now been working in the town for four years in partnership with the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk to create new work for the projectors, including the King’s Lynn R&D Challenge (2017) and REVEAL (2018).
Collusion’s Director Rachel Drury said: “This has been a very hard year for us all, the arts sector included. People are missing the experience of cultural events, so we are proud to be bringing such a beautiful and thought-provoking experience to King’s Lynn, one that everyone can enjoy at a time when so many of our usual activities are off the table.”
Cllr Elizabeth Nockolds, Deputy Leader and cabinet member for Culture, Heritage and Health said: “During half term I hope that people come and have a look at the vibrant projections. This should be a covid-secure way to get some fresh air, enjoy what the town has to offer and see the artwork being displayed.”
Cllr Paul Kunes, cabinet member for Climate Change and Commercial Services, added: “This is a fantastically creative way to get some very important messages across to our residents. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these projections over the next few weeks and urge people to see how they can make a difference.”
DRAWDOWN is the first of four climate related artworks by Collusion that will be delivered between October 2020 and May 2022 as part of the GAME ON series. GAME ON aims to establish King’s Lynn as a national centre of excellence for cultural innovation in interactive, town-scale projection-based artworks, supported by a networked digital cluster of specialist creative businesses.
DRAWDOWN runs for one month and the work is viewable from nightfall until 10pm each evening. Visitors are encouraged to bring a torch and to please follow the latest Covid-19 guidelines whilst enjoying the project. More information can be found at collusion.org.uk/drawdown and via #drawdownkl on social media.
Visitor Information
- Admission: Free and un-ticketed
- Opening times: Daily from twilight to 10pm
- Locations: The Custom House, Greyfriars Tower, King’s Lynn Minster, St Nicholas’ Chapel
- Social media: Twitter @in_collusion // Instagram collusion // Facebook InCollusion // #drawdownkl
- Website: www.collusion.org.uk/drawdown