Capturing our two-metre conversations

Commissioned by Phoenix Art Space, in collaboration with the university’s Centre for Arts and Wellbeing and Brighton and Hove City Council, Katy has teamed up with Lily and John to capture the area’s experience of living through the pandemic, with the work to be shown across the city once venues are open again.

Over 60 people have been interviewed for the project, at two metre social distance of course, in parks, on benches, in the street at front doors. The hope is that the collection of narratives will help us look back at the unprecedented coronavirus lockdown and chronicle what it was like to live through these times.

Katy, who is an artist and Senior Lecturer at the university’s School of Architecture and Design, said: “Working on the project has been moving, humbling, funny and sad. At first, I wasn’t sure if people would want to talk to someone they didn’t know about the challenges and personal feelings lockdown and coronavirus had brought up for them, but people were really open about their experiences.

“What struck us most as we were making the film was the common experiences and feelings many people had been through. Undoubtedly lockdown has been and continues to be much more difficult for some than others, but we often heard of the coming together of neighbours to support each other at this time.”

The film is currently being edited and will be shown online in the coming months, with the social archive to be displayed in galleries, libraries and community spaces once they are fully open again. The work will also be stored as an historic document to preserve for future generations.

Duncan Bullen, Deputy Head in the School of Art for Research and Enterprise and Director of the Centre of Arts and Wellbeing said: “The university has a long and illustrious history in art and design practices, medicine and healthcare, and was a pioneer in community engagement. The Centre of Arts and Wellbeing was formed as a means to bring together these strengths to foster novel, vital, creative and collaborative methods through which a range of health and wellbeing issues are investigated and produce a public benefit.  

“It is through projects such as this that our research and enterprise can make a vital contribution to contemporary cultural life for communities beyond the university while refining the academic understanding of how and why the development of arts and wellbeing interweave.”

Katy added: “My own experience of lockdown has been both good and bad. I have spent more time with my son as he was off school, and we’ve been creative together which has been lovely. I’ve had to squeeze a lot into my reduced ‘work time’ which has been a challenge.

“I lost a family member to COVID in another country. I have missed seeing my family and friends, and I’ve worried about the uncertainty the future holds. But seeing the way communities in Brighton have supported each other (including my own street) has given me hope for a different kind of future.”