2 October 2023

Immersive light installations are bring trialled by patients in Gloucestershire for a research project to improve mental health and wellbeing.

The Submergence areas use hundreds of lights with soothing sounds created by a local arts collective.

They are installed in the Oncology unit in Cheltenham and the Children’s Centre in Gloucester.

If successful its hoped the study will lead to a bigger project across the country.

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Sophie Dawe is recovering from Hodgkin Lymphoma for the second time and has spent time in the installation in Cheltenham.

“For me colours are everything,” said Sophie, who works as an artist. “It just shifts your mood instantly because I’m so attracted to colour and shapes, especially with the effects, it’s amazing. I could walk around here all day.”

The feasibility study, which has been funded by Innovate UK, has been asking patients and their families how using Submergence has made them feel.

“We’re hoping that having art installations like this in healthcare will help us to provide nice experiences for people when they’re in an otherwise bad place,” said Anoushka Duroe-Richards, Arts Coordinator for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust.

“Ultimately we’re also hoping that has an impact on their well-being and and mental health and may also help to reduce NHS costs.”

James Groves and Lizzie Dreczewicz are two cancer patients who were invited to try the installation at the Oncology unit where they were treated in Cheltenham.

James said: ” When you’re in hospital you feel lonely a lot of the time so its good to come down and try something like this and distract your brain a little bit.

“I’ve been in a few different hospitals during the time I was having my chemotherapy and when its a place where its more colourful and there’s art it makes it more comfortable for you.”

“It’s calming. I like looking at the lights and the different colours,” Lizzie said. “Its very relaxing, I feel calmer.”

The installations at the hospital are smaller versions of the original Submergence exhibit which has toured the world for the last ten years.

It was created by Squidsoup, a Cheltenham arts collective that fuses art and technology.

The company has partnered with the NHS in Gloucestershire on the research project, which its hoped, if successful, will lead to a bigger roll out across the country.

“It’s humbling and quite awe inspiring,” said Dan Pearson, Squidsoup’s Creative Technologist. “I never thought that we’d be having a conversation about how our work could get in to these spaces to make people’s lives different.

“A lot of people look at art and say, as wonderful as it is, what’s the purpose of it? But we like to look at how our technology and art together can expand the spaces that it can exist in and the purpose that people think it exists for.”

As well as patients and families, the research team and encouraged staff to use the installations too.

For many, who often have to deal with difficult and stressful situations, just a few minutes have made a difference.

Laureen Plommer, a matron in the oncology unit in Cheltenham, said: “Even 30 seconds or a minute, you glaze over and experience the sounds, the separation from your day.

“It really makes all the difference. Having some time to ‘turn off’ your brain, to reset and refocus is invaluable.”

The new school year is underway, and the Lumonics Field Trip Program is in place for students of all ages.

Up to 40 students per field trip is recommended
$250 for 90 Minutes

What is a Field Trip to the  Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery Like?

Lumonics is a multi-sensory environment of light sculptures, video art projection, and  music. Your body is relaxed, and the right side of your brain (the creative, emotional side) is at full stimulation.  It is intended to bring you into a state of comfort and expanded awareness.

The Elements of the Field Trip

 Tour of the gallery, art studio and the Lumonics School of Light Art

  brief history of Lumonics, among the first and
longest-running light art projects in the United States

  light and sound immersion

 question and answer session, tailored to the type of class attending

 

The Light and Sound Immersion

Lumonics Immersed is an innovative approach to art and creativity, and can be a memorable and transformative experience.

We provide the setting so the students can exercise their imaginative powers and hopefully be inspired to go further in their endeavors.

The Elements:
 Mel and Dorothy Tanner’s Light Sculptures
 Original Special Effects, Music, and Projection
 Lighting and the Effects Orchestrated Live by Lumonics’ Marc Billard

While the field trip can benefit every curriculum, it has specific application to:

Art – the introduction of an art form involving several disciplines
Science  – an art form that utilizes technology including lasers, electronics, and LEDs
Language Arts – a universal language of light and sound.

It is an opportunity  for the students to describe what they experience, both orally and in writing.  They are welcome to bring sketch books and journals, and take photos.

Lumonics is the creation of  artists Dorothy Tanner (1923-2020)  and Mel Tanner (1925-1993).   
Mrs. Tanner was the recipient of the 2018 Denver Mayor’s Award for Innovation in the Arts.

The field trip can be tailored to meet the specific needs of the students.

Read what students have written about their experiences at the field trips.

Contact Info for Details:
Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery
800 E. 73 Ave., Unit 11
Denver, CO 80229
303.568.9406
www.lumonics.net 
lumonics@gmail.com

* For Denver Public School Teachers:
we will provide you with our Vendor Number