‘WHAT UNITES HUMAN BEINGS, EARS, EYES, LOVES, HOPES AND TOES IS HUGE AND WONDERFUL. WHAT DIVIDES HUMAN BEINGS IS SMALL AND MEAN.’
Photo by Brian Morrison
This statement forms part of Bob and Roberta Smith’s new work for LIGHTS OUT and is taken from their LETTER TO AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER. Bob and Roberta Smith think that the common goals humanity aims for; love, peace and well-being, outweigh the things that divide us. The famous football match on Christmas day 1914 between Germans and allied troops enjoying sport together is emblematic of this feeling.
Bob and Roberta Smith take over the East Lawn of the City Hall grounds in Belfast to create an illuminating installation of the statement, using letters designed and constructed together with local artists and community groups. These groups, with diverse age ranges and backgrounds, respond to their understanding of the statement and to the commemoration of WW1.
Each letter of the statement accommodates a set of candles and at 10pm on Monday 4 August, Bob and Roberta Smith invite the city of Belfast to ignite the candles in a moment of shared reflection.
Bob and Roberta Smith is the name of a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education advocate and keynote speaker. Seeing art as an important element in democratic life, much of their art takes the form of painted signs which advocate the arts to Government.
Read Bob and Roberta Smith’s LETTER TO AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER
Community groups: Age NI, ArtsEkta, Cara-Friend, Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum, Golden Thread Gallery, Lyric Theatre Summer School, The Action Ability, Wallace High School
Workshop facilitators: Jane Butler, Charlotte Bosanquet, Tonya McMullan
Production managers: Stephen Hackett, Kim McAleese
