"Glorious" - Yorkshire Evening Post
"Spectacular" - Leeds Guide
"Fantastic" - BBC web site
Mystery and adventure were the order of the day in this unconventional look at urban Leeds.Thinking about what it might mean to keep some spaces as "public" or "sacred" in an increasingly retail-dominated high street, Smoke & Mirrors asked audiences to take a fresh look at the city and buildings around them. What secrets do they hold?
Participants could visit any of the pieces on their own, or make the journey round all three.
The Electric Press / Carriageworks Courtyard, Millennium Square
Victorian entertainers mingle with the gathered crowds. Suddenly a magician is at your elbow. But beware! Dastardly deceptions are afoot... Who's that at the window above?
St John's Church, New Briggate
Dark and disused, this is one of the oldest buildings in the city. Equipped with only an audio guide and a torch, you take part in a bizarre heritage tour. But can you trust the narrator? And did he warn you about the ghosts?
Holy Trinity, Boar Lane
Projections are thrown on the church's cavernous ceiling. Audience members control the light and change the mood, becoming performers as they do so. An exploration of quantum physics and the idea of the sacred.
Smoke and Mirrors formed part of Leeds City Council's Light Night, which saw the culmination of the year-long Illuminate Festival and the launch of Celebrate Leeds 2007, marking the 800th anniversary of the charter that created the borough of Leeds. Light Night saw city-centre venues throw open their doors at unusual times for a huge range of cultural activities.
Smoke and Mirrors was created in collaboration with visual artist Heather Jones, light artist Gemma Rickwood, sound designer Joff Williams and film-maker Matt Tullett.
During 2007, we re-staged the installation at St John's with the support of Leeds Civic Trust and arts @ leeds. The Light Night organisers said Smoke and Mirrors at St John's was "A thoroughly joyful twenty-five minutes of dark truths and playful lies. Why can't all audio guides be like this?"
www.lightnightleeds.co.uk
www.myspace.com/lightnightleeds
www.secretleeds.co.uk
