UK-WIDE
10PM – 11PM, 4 AUGUST 2014
“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime” Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary, August 1914
Traw, by Bedwyr Williams, 4 August
Traw, by Bedwyr Williams, a 14-18 NOW commission, 4 August
Audience watching Traw, by Bedwyr Williams, a 14-18 NOW commission, 4 August
Audience watching Traw, by Bedwyr Williams, a 14-18 NOW commission, 4 August
By permission of the National Library of Wales
Installing Bedwyr Williams 14-18 NOW commission, Traw, in Bangor
Credits
Co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Artes Mundi. Artes Mundi is supported by the Arts Council of Wales, the Welsh Government, Cardiff Council, the Colwinston Charitable Trust, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Garfield Foundation and the Waterloo Foundation.
Produced By Artes Mundi.
Partners
Bedwyr Williams’ work Traw takes the form of a large-scale video and sound installation presented at the site of the North Wales Memorial Arch, Bangor. The memorial takes centre stage in front of images projected onto the enormous facing wall of Bangor University’s new Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre.
Taking photographs found in the Cymru 1914 archive, Williams creates a sequence of images of local military and civilian personnel who were affected by WW1. Excluding all uniform and references to rank, the close up faces reveal something of the individual’s personality and personal sacrifice in a war where death was measured in millions.
Traw is a Welsh word meaning to strike. A resonating soundtrack that centres on a slowed down clock ticking underpins the work and will be felt, as much as heard, across the city.
Bedwyr Williams is one of Wales’ leading visual artists. He lives and works in North Wales and his work takes many different forms, including installation, performance, drawing, sculpture and increasingly film. In 2013 he represented Wales at the Venice Biennale.
