glug and insiration up north

                                                               Images © Gordon Young 2011

On Friday night my friend Jen and I went to an event called Glug here in Brighton – funny name but brilliant event! Glug is a networking (they call it notworking) event for creatives. They hold talks for designers, creatives and clients to get together and be inspired.

We heard four talks, all of them really different and inspiring. The best was by Gordon Young, a visual artist who focuses on creating art for the public domain. He was such a presence, everyone who stuck around to the end of the night was mesmerised by his matter-of-fact way, Northern accent and insight into large scale art. 

One work of art he spoke about was his project from 2011 called the Comedy Carpet. It is one of Britain's largest pieces of public art, which cost £2.6m is in Blackpool, Northern England.

This artwork is part of a multi-million pound regeneration of the Blackpool seafront. It features the work of more than 1000 comedians and comedy writers, with the phrases cast into concrete with granite letters. 

What a piece of work! The pictures he showed us of it all coming together were astounding, it's really hard to imagine the scale. Which is why Jen and I are taking a road trip later in the year to take a look. I cannot wait, I will be sure to post the pictures here.