Art works created during the project in response to memories collected. The artworks were funded by the original project with additional funding from Arts Council England.
- Welcome to Lunarshire (Tom Diffenthal & Lauren Paige-Dowling)
- Voice from the Hood 2 (Dan Fox – Sound Intervention)
- Broken Records – The Phantom’s Playlist
Welcome to Lunarshire
Experience ‘Welcome to Lunashire,’ an immersive VR journey where the future meets the 60s on a new moon colony. Guided by a friendly northern estate agent from the ‘Celestial Syndicate,’ you’ll explore a lively neighbourhood, complete with coffee and milk bars, fantastic nightlife, and out-of-this-world fashion. Set in a quaint 50s living room, don a headset to be transported to Lunar-shire, while onlookers watch your adventure on a vintage TV. This project blends space race enthusiasm, radiophonic sounds, and retro northern sensibilities to create a unique artistic experience. ‘Welcome to Lunar-shire’ offers a whimsical take on alternative futurism, blending nostalgia with visionary imagination.
Voices from the Hood 2
Captures the sounds and voices of the jukebox golden era. This is an audio-visual artwork that functions as a sculptural piece and a listening post. A piece that works on two levels. Visually we see people sitting under what look like vintage salon hair dryers. These very recognisable furniture items are normally associated with hair salons but taken out of context and repurposed to listen to extracts from the jukebox archive. A step back in time complete with appropriate floor covering and set dressing items adaptable to different locations.
The audio is played from digital sources through speakers embedded in at least two ’dryers.’ Controlled with buttons on the arm rest, whilst sitting the listener can flick though a magazine that has text and images associated with the jukebox project, providing background, context and credits for the audio.
The act of sitting on a comfortable chair, reading and being absorbed in a sound world allows people a space to travel back in time whilst watching the world go by.
Broken Records – The Phantom’s Playlist
A darkly funny, ‘choose your own adventure’ style game where you must help a spectre trapped within a jukebox uncover the truth about his demise in hopes of setting him free. This interactive story is housed within an abandoned antique jukebox and takes place amidst what appears to be a collection of old forgotten junk in storage. Set against the backdrop of Britain from the 1960s to the 1990s, the game combines elements of retro gaming, B-movie horror, and surreal humour—think Cluedo meets The Twilight Zone.
Choose your timeline, investigate various scenes, encounter strange characters, and see if you can uncover the truth to release the spectre. Good luck. You’ll need it!
Artist: Matt Tully