Lighten Up at Design Event 08
Newcastle, 16 October 2008

Lighten Up’s second outing is to the north tower of the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle. A somewhat unusual venue…

We packed Lighten Up into a van and drove it to Newcastle this week for Design Event. When we arrived at the Tyne Bridge, entering the north tower at ground level, it was incredible to see the dark, vastness of the space. We are setting up the exhibition on the first floor. The tower rises up for five storeys, with only large RSJ’s spanning the structure at each floor level. Below our floor is storage for the market stall holders, but from our floor up is the domain of the Geordie pigeons.

Infact, all but a couple of pigeons have been removed and the holes blocked up by the council. They have also done a great job cleaning the space ready for our arrival.

One of the toughest parts of set up so far has been carrying all the bits of the exhibition up the stairs. Some things are to be set up at the top of the tower at road level, these have to be carried up five sets of stairs. The lift unfortunately closed down many years ago.

We are now in full swing hanging lights from the first set of RSJ’s with the help of Design Event volunteers. With the venues character as a backdrop, the lights are looking more striking than ever!

More on Flickr

Sit Up, Tetris Wishing bench at the Shipley Gallery
Shipley Gallery, Newcastle 9 October 2008

At the Shipley Gallery in Newcastle, [re]design ran a Tetris cardboard furniture making workshop alongside the Sit Up exhibition on display there. Visitors had the chance to add a wish to a piece of the bench that will remain at the gallery and continue to grow after the event.