I drove up to Yorkshire a week ago for the last night of 'Odin's Glow', a public art event set in the village of Newton-Under-Roseberry.
The event comprised illuminations of Roseberry Topping, the mountain that overlooks the village, together with a number of installations and performances in the streets and spaces below, pedestrianised for the four nights of the show.
The event celebrated the Viking heritage of the area - Roseberry Topping is an anglisation of the Norse for Odin's Rock. So lots of runes and audio re-telling of Norse myths. In an odd bit of artistic direction, the event also covered the life of Caption Cook, who once lived there too. This made the evening feel a bit schizophrenic for me - the themes didn't really come together very well, and in my view a flawed compromise had been made somewhere in the planning process.
However, it was great to walk through a rural village at night, transformed with light and sound, and the sense of occasion was palpable, even if some of the installations were a little underwhelming.
The star of the show was unquestionably the mountain of Roseberry Topping itself, dramatically illuminated by Filament, and stopping crowds at every spot in the village from which it was visible. An unforgettable sight.
Most photos from http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-don/ - many thanks.
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