PREVIEW: Shimmer Digital Arts Festival in Whitley Bay

By Jack Gilbert on October 25, 2012 in Art & Design

Shimmer will once again dazzle Whitley Bay’s seafront this November in a musical and visual display that attracts thousands to the Spanish City each year. The event offers a mesmeric spectacle upon Spanish City, Panama Dip skate park and Waves Leisure Pool. Expect giant projections, an array of colour and light and a heart-warming atmosphere.

The event started in 2011, and since then it has gone from strength to strength and this year it promises to be even bigger. Shimmer offers an amazing opportunity for digital artists to display their work to thousands and it all centres around Whitley Bay and bringing its history to life in an extraordinary visual display. With a multi-million pound renovation project set to revitalise the Spanish City, this year’s Shimmer will be sure to add to the exciting buzz in the Whitley Bay area

The curator of the event, Kevin Wallace, has told us that Shimmer is a unique event because, “we ask artists to respond to the ‘spirit of the place’ – in this case, not just the layout, buildings and structures on the seafront at Whitley Bay, but also the history and traditions of the place. This gives the event a real meaning and resonance with the site and last year’s audience really responded to this and loved the event”.

At the centre of the event will be the work of the NOVAK Collective and their display of Diversion onto Whitley Bay’s iconic dome. Their 9 minute video features a medley of graphical elements, photography and a unique reworking of the Dire Straits song, Tunnel of Love, in a classical fairground orientated piece of visual art.

Also on display during this year’s Shimmer will be Chronobooth, which is an interactive video which allows users to explore the heyday of Whitley Bay, as created by Newcastle filmmaker Joe Pochiol. Creative Waves will be a digital video projection onto the Whitley Bay skate park, which will highlight the origins of California skate parks and Whitley Bay’s own skate park and will feature performance artists in action within the skate park throughout the display. Whitlath Exegesis meanwhile is a film documenting the natural history of Whitley Bay and is produced by Robin Webb, whose work has gained recognition by the likes of BBC Proms, the Design Council and The Tyneside Cinema.