2017
A set of two lifeguard chairs offering a slightly different perspective of familiar landscapes.
Passers-by in Macclesfield were invited to sit with me up there to chat about hope. I knew it was out there but it was feeling pretty thin on the ground. I collected hope from across the town: from Weston, Hurdsfield, The Grosvenor Shopping Centre and South Park and put them into a hope index. Hope is a feeling that is much tougher than I had given it credit for. I thought it was a bit soft, optimistic, naïve. But no, it’s a hardy old thing. The last thing to be lost.
At the end of my time in the town, people returned to the chairs at twilight- this time with a cold glass of cava and chose a hope from the index to hear. The complete index of hope was printed onto cards and given out when they returned to the ground.
A Barnaby Festival commission. Photos by Simon Brown.