For over a year, I worked as a part of a creative duo with Lizzi Hawkins on the Corpus Christi May Ball 2017, Cambridge. One part of our shared role was to theme and design each space within the Ball and art-direct any displays which were showcased on the night itself. The theme of the Ball was colours, hence the title 'Canvas: A Night in Colour' (which both Lizzi and I were partly responsible for naming).
The big idea behind the general theme was that we were turning College into our own canvas for the night and transforming it into a work of art. Each space/room in the Ball was given a specific colour on the spectrum, which had a decorations subtheme associated with it. For example, Old Court was assigned the colour blue and its subtheme was the 'Deep Sea'. Lizzi and I had to pitch our themes for each space to the committee to ensure that we had the most striking and visually coherent idea possible which we could then carry out practically and affordably in the week leading up to the Ball.
Across each of its eleven spaces, we made sure that the appearance and the mood of the Ball was varied and exciting. From the soothing umbrella canopy in Library court to the bustling Bazaar-like warren of the Bursar's Garden and the otherworldly space-themed silent disco of Hall, we attempted to take each of the Ball's 1000 guests on a visual journey through each colour of the spectrum.
I also art-directed the Ball's lightshow, which was displayed at midnight on the College’s chapel. My role was to moodboard the themes and details of the show and then to choreograph its main images into a sequence soundtracked to a song of my choice. Elio Jack Beccegato, a graphic designer and animator, put my ideas into practice and created the visuals for the display, which I provided feedback on and restructured over the next few months. The company Visual Poke was absolutely central to the logistics of the projection itself, successfully setting up and displaying the show on the night of the Ball. The sequence as a whole was intended to express the key concepts and ideas behind the Ball, including its main subthemes and the big creative idea of transforming this ancient setting into a bright new canvas of its own. It was described by many guests as the highlight of the night.
