The Art Trail 2008
January 13th, 2009 by sparky
Fake Moon by Simon Faithful (photo by Simon Steven)
Art Trail News
Congratulations to Juneau Projects and Kathleen Herbert who were part of this year’s Art Trail (see their projects below) on being selected as part of Time Out’s ‘London’s 40 best artists-our 40 most exciting talents under the age of 40′ for more info see here.
The Art Trail 2008
In 2008, the intimate woodland trail took you on a mysterious journey of storytelling, theatre and games with artworks by Simon Faithfull, The House of Fairytales in association with Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis, Lucienne Cole, Paul Gittins, Juneau Projects, Kathleen Herbert, Francis Upritchard, Helen Maurer, Grace Ndiritu, Melanie Stidolph and David Bickerstaff. Curator Alice Sharp.
The Art Trail 2008 by Nick Crowe
Inspired by the captivating Eastnor landscape, animal inhabitants and history - sculpture, video, performance, photography and theatre guided you from moonrise into the night. Through ancient trees, into grass clearings, over bridges and into realms of mythical imagination and fairytale fantasy, you were invited to take part in the art and nature trail. Each encounter and experience revealed the unexpected, taking you on an unforgettable journey through magical locations tucked away from the main festival site.
Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis 'The House of Fairytales' (photo by Simon Steven)
The House of Fairytales in association with Gavin Turk and Deborah Curtis featured many special guests from the fairytale world. Visitors were invited to evening programmes of storytelling and a special performance enacted by half life size puppets of ‘Waiting for Gavo’ by the Live Stock Market Studio: a corrupted homage to Samuel Becket’s masterpiece.
Simon Faithful 'Fake Moon' (photo by Simon Steven)
Fake Moon by Simon Faithfull was a perplexing apparition. On a moonless night a powerfullight housed in helium balloon imitated the lunar path of the missing planet and deceived many of the audience - illuminating the hillside above the main stage as it rose high and gradually set across the festival sky.
Lucienne Cole 'The Woodland Factory meets The Prisoner, in The Village of The Damned to the soundtrack of Siouxsie and The Banshees' (photo by Simon Steven)
Lucienne Cole created ‘The Woodland Factory meets The Prisoner, in the Village of The Damned to the soundtrack of Siouxsie and The Banshees’. Berkley brolly dancers dressed in black and white uniforms, dark glasses and odd capes, armed with mega phones synchronized their steps in a performance beneath numbers hanging in an oak tree.
Lucienne Cole: Axis Artist Profile
Kathleen Herbert 'Stable' (photo by Simon Steven)
Stable by Kathleen Herbert was a poetic film set between two majestic Oak trees, where Gloucester Cathedral’s columns echoed the framing by the tree trunks. The film is a Super 16mm film of an event, which she orchestrated, where for one night horses were brought into the Cathedral to walk freely through the architecture of the space.
Kathleen Herbert: Axis Artist Profile 
Paul Gittins 'Electric Shadow House' (photo by Simon Steven)
Electric Shadow House by Paul Gittins was an interactive light work and performance space. Musicians and performers created mesmerising patterns and passers by could play in the house with the lights and shadows and be seen through hand made paper screens that made the patterns appear digital from the outside.
Helen Maurer 'Set Dance' (photo by Simon Steven)
Set Dance by Helen Maurer was a strange, slow moving visual tale under canvas - where objects, mirrors, flowers and theatrical props took on new life. Originally commissioned for the Winter Garden Ballroom in Eastbourne, the piece was reconfigured for the Big Chill where the dance continued.
www.daniellearnaud.com/artists/artists-maurer.html 
Juneau Projects 'Sewn To The Sky' (photo by Simon Steven)
Sewn to the Sky by Juneau Projects was a computer game with a difference. The audience got up on the stage and controlled the game by playing music as a band, using customized, sculptural rock instruments. The players played together to guide the animated character through a scrolling tapestry like landscape, avoiding obstacles and enemies along the way.
Francis Upritchard 'Oh, How Strange To Meet Your Hair' (photo by Simon Steven)
Oh, how strange to meet your hair! by Francis Upritchard were sculptures set beside a gnarled yew tree. Upritchard specially created the evolutionary psychedelic figures set in bell jars on old pieces of furniture to form a part of a new visionary landscape.
www.katemacgarry.com/francisupritchard.php 
Melanie Stidolph 'Illuminated Light Boxes' (photo by Simon Steven)
Illuminated light boxes by Melanie Stidolph, was set with a backdrop of the Open Air stage and showed photographs taken through seasonal visits to Eastnor. These captured low key moments in the life of the Deer Park and transformed them into iconic images open to wider readings.
David Bickerstaff 'Angry House' (photo by Simon Steven)
Angry House by David Bickerstaff, was the winner of the competition “Your Art @ the Big Chill”. Bickerstaff created an interactive performance-based installation of a wooden playhouse, which stirred when you approached, getting angrier, it growled, made strange sounds and lit up and banged the door from the inside.
“The Art Trail has established itself as a significant part of the Big Chill festival specializing in presenting artworks in an exceptional setting. The 2008 Art Trail has built on its ten year history which has included internationally recognized artists Gary Hume, Ackroyd and Harvey, Zatorski and Zatorski and Brian Eno”.
Alice Sharp - Curator
For the first time this year the Art Trail has been awarded an Arts Council grant towards the artists projects and an Education and Outreach Programme. A series of creative artist led workshops gave local young people and children an opportunity to benefit from and be involved with the festival. The programme took place in three schools in the close vicinity of Eastnor and involves artists from across England.
Eastnor Primary School pupils had the opportunity to make wicker sculptures with Faye Harvey, taking inspiration from the wildlife in Eastnor and their creations were exhibited by the Castle Stage.
Juneau Projects worked with children from Ledbury Primary School to create new characters for their interactive computer game stated above which was part of the Arts Trail. 
Pupils from John Masefield High School performing in the Words In Motion tent at The Big Chill 2009
Poets Shane Solanki and Martin Stannage led spoken word workshops with students from John Masefield High School. They performed their work at the Ledbury Poetry Festival at the Market House Theatre in July 2008 and in Festival’s Words in Motion.
Alice Sharp - Curator
Molly Rigg - Project Assistant and Education Coordinator
Melanie Smith - Co Producer
Sam Collins and Scott Martin - Production
