Creating and installing The Light art installation for Salisbury Cathedral was a brilliant challenge for 6 young volunteers in Poole.
Travers, Toby, Erween, Elliott, Zach & Sam are Conical Sphere Music volunteers who have worked alongside artist Richard McLester to create the art installation THE LIGHT. Last year saw them install their creation in Salisbury Cathedral where it was suspended from November 2018 to January 2019.
THE LIGHT is a 4m illuminating globe which has the ability to produce a display of light and film across it’s surface. Inside the globe are 80 strips of LEDs and 4 projectors all of which can be controlled wirelessly from up to 50 metres away.
The volunteers worked with artist Richard McLester to create the entire installation from scratch.
“I have learnt so many new skills on this project” says Toby. “Everything from engineering to Agile project management!”
“It was amazing to think how many thousands of people saw our work” says Sam. “Creating something for such an important building was very rewarding.”
Help us create more opportunities like this…
Musician, artist, web-designer, film-maker, photographer & all round creative. His art installations & performances have been held in major UK venues including most recently Salisbury Cathedral. He’s the CEO of a media company and of a non-profit CIC that gives local volunteers opportunities in the arts. Richard McLester is the spark lighting the way for Dorset’s creative future…
Q You do everything from IT, film & design to art installations and concerts. What inspires it and how does it work together?
A All of the media work we do for clients as well as the art projects and concerts are essentially about communication. By doing more experimental and open ended art projects alongside our media work we have a safe space to try new things and push our boundaries – which gives us an edge in both fields.
Q Why are you helping to upskill young people in Dorset?
A I’m passionate about art, music and technology and the ways these can bring people together, but I also want to help people in a more direct, immediate way. By getting volunteers involved on the art projects we’re able to teach them new skills, give them experience using industry standard tools and have them work directly alongside professionals. We have now created the infrastructure so that any volunteer can join in on any art project and learn the right skills for their future careers.
Q You use the same project management systems as Google & Barclays. How does it help you realise your creative visions?
A A key part of bringing any project to life is managing the people and time needed to make it happen. Working in an Agile framework and using Atlassian software such as Jira and Confluence are essential for us to do this. It makes communication between teams as quick and efficient as possible. This helps us to keep our costs down for clients and focus on being as creative as possible.
Q What drove you to start experimenting with art & technology?
AThe exciting thing about technology is that you can always do more with less. Traditionally projections on multiple screens, or lighting up large venues such as cathedrals would be very expensive. But by using simulation software and lean project management, we can pre-plan and focus our resources on specific areas of the project. This means that rather than being held back by budget constraints, we can afford to be creative and push boundaries. This translates into our volunteers achieving things they wouldn’t have thought possible.
Q Your recent art installation in Salisbury was dubbed “a beacon of hope” by Sky News. How did you achieve this?
A When creating a project it’s important to create a spectacular visual that captures the imagination. If you can link that with a story that resonates with people then you are halfway there. The other half is knowing how to present the project in such a way to the press that they can also see the importance of the work. Again it’s through our experience in both art and
professional media work that we are really able to hone down and communicate these messages correctly to people.
Q What are your plans for the future?
A We are currently looking at which locations we should take our project ‘One City One Light’ to next. The project involves hanging our huge illuminating globe as a focal point, then
reaching out and connecting with the surrounding community to make the project relevant to them. It all culminates in a big multimedia concert underneath the globe featuring local singers from the area.
Last year Zach broke up for his summer holidays and decided to take up the opportunity of joining our team as a creative intern. He had previously volunteered with us as a chorister, singing alongside Richard McLester for songs such as The Lowly Candle Flame. This time he decided to get stuck in and try his hand at some new skills.
“…I’ve had a fantastic experience” says Zach. “I’ve learnt a ridiculous amount of new skills, including most importantly the day to day management of bringing a project to life! I’ve learnt how to use software tools that Google & Barclays use, as well as discovering a new passion for photography. I’m very excited for my future – having a taste of so many different disciplines has really given me a sense of what’s possible and I’ve added tons of new skills to my CV…”
Zach began the summer creating a virtual lighting desk that would be used in our 
