A beautiful illuminated sign, to commemorate Plymouth's Mayflower 500. Conjure with "No New Worlds"
We’re delighted to showcase this striking piece of art from our friends in Plymouth (who fed into our recent Local Trust COVID-19 report, A New Story of Us), tied to the city’s Mayflower 500 celebrations.
Made by the group Still/Moving, it’s actually titled “Speedwell” - see the explanation below - and the video above is a concise account of its conception.
Here’s the artists’ own explanation:
As the text changes slowly and silently in the vast space of Plymouth Sound it gives rise to complex questions. By using three words (NO, NEW, WORLDS) it invites viewers to ask complex questions about themselves, the damaged planet and the legacy of the pivotal journeys made by the Mayflower and its companion ship the Speedwell.
It offers multiple readings; constantly shifting between words that are lit up and questioning the historic conceit that there ever was a ‘New World’; asking us to imagine new worlds of living, caring and dying well together. The artwork will remain illuminated through September, October and November of 2020.
In 1620 the people on board the Mayflower went to settle in what they called the New World, which was in fact a world where indigenous people already lived. The Speedwell, a ship intended to sail alongside the Mayflower, was unable to make the journey across the Atlantic.
Some of those who returned to England on board the Speedwell had to find ways to make peace with the place they sought to escape from.
‘Speedwell’ is a light that joins the constellation of other navigational beacons within Plymouth Sound, that illuminate paths to the ocean and to safe harbour. The Sound is a wide canvas on which boats and warships come, linger and go, tracing an iconography of commerce, attack and defence.
Onto this backdrop, the illuminated words play with the impact of their ever-shifting message.
‘Speedwell’ uses modular, recyclable technology that has the capacity to be re-written in the future. Its real-time, randomly generated sequence of iterations enables the sculpture to embody an intuitive voice of its own.
'Speedwell' is visible from the shoreline 24hrs a day between 4th September and 29th November 2020, but it is best experienced between dusk and dawn.
Still/Moving invites you to visit the structure up close on the breakwater where you can add your own voice in response to the sculpture.
And below is a short video, showing the community effort that went into to making “Speedwell”.