You might have noticed the gorgeous annual light festival across Bristol’s city centre, spewing multicolour into the streets when night falls, but have you explored the paths of Royal Fort Gardens where the festival has expanded onto the university’s campus for the first time? Public perception is often that this green space is exclusively for students, so in an effort to display its communality the organisers of the festival chose to install Will Budgett’s project, The Midnight Ballet. Even during its first day of installation, I noticed members of the public wandering the site – a hopeful sign for the university’s aspiration.
Admittedly, the artworks didn’t appear to me right away. I stood in Royal Fort Gardens, unsure of where to turn and quietly admiring the fairy lights that led down a path previously unexplored by me. Luring me further in was a gorgeous musical piece, delicate and dramatic, which I decided to follow in hopes that it would lead me to the installation. Though I’ve walked through the gardens many times between classes, I had never gone through to the side where Budgett’s installation is placed, and where a beautiful angle of the university buildings comes into view. Most notably, Budgett’s seven illuminated steel sculptured are placed along the trail, creating the silhouette of ballerinas caught in various positions of elegant dance.
This is Budgett’s first solo exhibit and, as a former student of UoB, having it placed where he spent his formative years is a huge moment of success. Budgett never expected to become a full-time artist and was actually pursuing a Russian degree; his achievement is an inspiration for all of those that have a passion in the arts. Budgett’s Russian course at the university, though never used to speak the language fluently, was a huge inspiration in his career. His degree took him to St Petersburg, Moscow, where he became mesmerised by the Russian ballet. The idea struck him when he left the performance and stepped into the industrialised, bleak structures of Russia’s streets. Ballet historically has been a way to escape the drab political landscape and connect with your country through a beautiful and demanding expression of the human form.
The juxtaposition of Budgett’s pieces made from construction site scraps and dancers carved from light struck me as a statement on the polarity of human invention. Budgett himself suggests that the abstractness of the metal is a surprise to him in the final product, as he spends the majority of the project looking up towards the silhouette. In fact, his goal is to create even more abstract pieces that confuse the viewer when they inevitably attempt to connect it to the intricate shadows.
Lola Nelson
We ended the press tour at the beginning of the trail, observing his first piece which he started in his second year of university. Feeling inspired, Budgett taught himself how to weld and used the help of his performer friend to choreograph positions. Although degrees in the arts are ever important, one cannot help feeling empowered by his ability to construct a career outside of his academia. Consequently, the end product is even more impressive. Budgett discussed many of his future plans, like working entirely with mesh to create more contour in the silhouettes, suggesting that his journey with The Midnight Ballet is far from over. If you haven’t properly explored Royal Fort Gardens, this exhibit is a great reason to walk down paths of the university that might have missed your eye.
Featured image: Molly Carlton
Did you see the Bristol Light Festival?
