A sound and light projection display, created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the near devastating fire in 1984, will light up the Minster’s nave until the 2nd November.
The artwork, created by award-winning artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid, bathes the entirety of the nave, west door, and vast ceiling of the Minster in a series of breathtaking scenes detailing the events during and after the 1984 fire. The installation begins with scenes of devastation as the Minster is engulfed by fire, and goes on to detail the successful rescue efforts made by the fire services. Subsequent scenes outline the reconstruction efforts that have returned the Minster to its former glory, as well as underlining the historic significance of the building.
The impressive visuals are supported by an immersive soundscape, in which visitors are surrounded by the sizzling sounds of the fire, the hammering of the rebuilding process, and the shouts of visitors. It was the latter which caused difficulties for the creators of the installation, particularly for sound technician Karen Monid: “The music’s actually fairly straightforward…but mediaeval cathedrals were never built to have anybody speaking in this way.
“So to overcome that, we’ve worked out a system where we’ve got speakers along the length of the nave.
“The other thing to watch out for is the reverb, because the reverb in here is enormous.”
The majority of the voices of firemen shouting and speaking during the installation are original and have been taken from contemporary interviews and video tapes. This level of authenticity is of central importance to both artists.
“I wanted it to be those people telling the story, not our interpretation of it,” Monid says.
She and Ashton hope to achieve more than just increase funding for the Minster with their installation. They aim to highlight the importance of community involvement in saving our historical landmarks. “These things are just so important not just the cultural landscape, but on the personal level, to people as well,” Monid concludes.
We would like to thank the York Minster for inviting us to witness a preview of this installation.