Full videos: Filming in the Exbury Egg
At the start of December we had the pleasure of filming in a very unusual and off-beat location...
We got in touch with the artist Stephen Turner to see if we could film some of our young people performing in his famous art installation, the Exbury Egg. Stephen built the giant wooden egg himself, it was created not only as a work of art but as a boat that he could live in. The egg was designed to drawn attention and awareness to mans relationship with nature and the environment. Stephen wanted to experience living as sustainably and close to nature as possible-everything within the Egg was crafted from natural materials.
Connecting with and preserving the environment is something that was high on the list in our discussions with our LJF Collective. These young people have been working with ArtsTrain for the last six months as part of our London Jazz Festival Project. The group first met in May to share ideas and create songs based on the theme of Climate Change and the Environment. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, this group have been championing youth activism through their passionate, cross-genre original music. The project culminated in a show at the Southbank Centre on 24th November where they closed the festival with their invigorating five song set.
The song Listen and Learn was written by Imogen, one of the youngest members of the group. This tender, poignant and at times satirical song is a response to the media’s negative portrayal of Greta Thunberg.
We also recorded 'Toutes Les Nuictz' by the composer Thomas Crecquillon. This piece was a challenge set by Stephen Turner. Stephen asked whether there would be anyone who could play or interpret the music in a picture titled ‘Concert in the Egg’. Joe and Yip rose to the challenge and created a flute and piano duet. They researched the picture and were able to find the original music which they learnt. They then added an additional section and improvised ending to create their own unique version of this piece. All very inspiring and innovative!
The natural acoustics of the wooden egg worked as a perfect venue for these pieces. The stripped back arrangements of these songs combined beautifully with the simplicity of the wooden egg; the coupling of these art forms couldn’t have been more perfect!
