News
Frans Designs a Winner
We are very proud to announce that Guild member Frans Wesselman's designs have helped clinch the winning commission for a major project for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
Arts Council England and London 2012 announced recently that Imagineer Productions has been selected as the West Midlands winner of a '500,000 commission for Artists taking the lead.
Godiva Awakes was selected by an independent panel of artists and producers from the five projects shortlisted in August from a total of 133 regional entries. The project was chosen because it is a genuinely artist led project which is great in scale and ambition and reflects the values of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics.
This YouTube video perfectly captures the spirit and scale of the project' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6djV9_Qfh0I
Frans modestly explains his involvement:
"Last spring I was asked by the ladies of Imagineer Productions to spend some time thinking about a large Lady Godiva walking from Coventry to London. She would be dressed in a long coat, made by the community of Coventry. I was also asked to design a bed chamber for her, which would be a permanent monument in Coventry and should include a Phoenix. The project would be linked to the Olympic Games.
I did some thinking and made some drawings. Just walking did not seem right to me, so I designed'a conveyance that was a combination of legs, palanquin and bicycles. The face of Godiva may look slightly familiar to those who know my etchings. The bed chamber I decided could make use of stained glass which would provide a link to the cathedral.'The Phoenix, rising from flames,'would top the structure.
The drawings were received with enthusiasm and used to garner support for the project from the town of Coventry, the University, the cathedral and so on. A film was then made,'to present the project, in competition with others, to the Arts Council. 'It has now been awarded the funds required.
Leading up to 2012 architects, engineers, pyrotechnicians, carnival designers, costume designers, artists, musicians'and many ordinary people from Coventry and the region will work to realise the project. I will be particularly involved in the making of the conveyance (the Cyclopedia) and the bed chamber."
Well done Frans!
