NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.- Visual and Environmental Artist AlanJames Burns, collaborating with Creswell Crags Museum & Heritage Centre, is delighted to announce the first British presentation of Burns’ Entirely hollow aside from the dark.

The immersive psychoacoustic sound artwork will be ‘staged’ inside the depths of Creswell Crags Cave this September, following the huge critical success of an Irish nationwide tour. Together with his creative team, Burns will install a new version of this unique experience specifically created for the cultural significance of Creswell Crags – a site located in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, that boasts Britain’s only examples of Ice Age Rock Art created some 13,000 years ago.

Entirely hollow aside from the dark takes place inside ancient natural auditoriums carved into the underbelly of earth’s crust. Using the cave as a physical metaphor for the mind the cavern personifies the consciousness of Mother Earth as she struggles with her worsening mental health, brought on by the human distressing of her body.

In the darkness, an audible inner dialogue echoing Mother Earth’s thoughts and regrets unfold and a symphony of choreographed sounds shifts around the cave mirroring processes of the human mind. Entirely hollow aside from the dark, created by AlanJames Burns in collaboration with writer Sue Rainsford and sound editor Ian Dunph, simultaneously aims to break down the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage environmental sustainability.

Creswell Crags recently hit the headlines all over the world because of the discovery of hundreds of Witches’ Marks. Heritage experts have revealed what is thought to be the biggest concentration of apotropaic marks, or symbols to ward off evil or misfortune, ever found in the UK. The collection was another huge find for the world-renowned, award-winning heritage site which is already on the UK’s tentative list for nomination for World Heritage Site status.

Watch a 3-minute video of the previous version of the artwork here.

AlanJames Burns is a visionary environmental artist working primarily through audio, virtual reality and performance. He is concerned with the experience of consciousness and how multimedia technology can be used to further our understanding of the inner experience. Burns holds a Masters in Visual Arts Practice from The Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire and a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Dublin Institute of Technology. He has exhibited and performed extensively both within Ireland and internationally. He is currently finalising Silicon Synapse, a VR experience commissioned by Fingal County Council and funded by the European Commission & Arts Council of Ireland, launching simultaneously in Dublin, Ireland and Milan, Italy in October 2019.