Filming Art Installations: The Lumen Permanent Collection by Northern Print
Filming Art Installations is another part of the creative process I love to capture as part of my work in Newcastle.
In September 2020, I was commissioned by Northern Print to document the installation of The Lumen Permanent Collection—a curated selection of contemporary prints embedded into the architecture of The Lumen, a striking new building in the heart of Newcastle Helix.
Filming Art Installations like this one is an opportunity to explore how art transforms spaces and connects communities. The Lumen Permanent Collection showcases work by six accomplished artists: Rachael Clewlow, Sarah Duncan, Katherine Jones, Nick Loaring, Anja Percival, and Eunice Routledge. What unites the collection—beyond its impressive technical diversity—is a shared theme: light. Each artist explores illumination through their printmaking practice, whether capturing fleeting natural atmospheres, investigating optical phenomena, or layering urban and personal histories.
Filming Art Installations isn’t just about capturing artworks as static objects. It’s about tracing the stories behind them and the hands that made them. Working closely with Northern Print, I created a series of short films that documented the installation process, interviews with each artist, and the thinking behind their work. For me, Filming Art Installations is about giving viewers more than visuals—it’s about bringing them into the conversations, processes, and creative insights that shape art in public spaces.
I approached this project as I often do when filming art installations: lightweight and agile. No big crew, just a small kit and a strong sense of curiosity. My aim is always to be unobtrusive, allowing artists the space to speak naturally and work fluidly. Filming Art Installations in working studios, warehouses, and the polished glass atriums of The Lumen brought technical challenges, but also a rewarding visual variety.
Each printmaker brought a unique perspective to The Lumen collection:
- Rachael Clewlow layered the history of the site—where inventor Joseph Swan once demonstrated his electric lamp—with her own cartographic printmaking process, fusing memory, movement, and science.
- Sarah Duncan delved into astronomical imagery and light-sensitive processes to evoke the sublime in everyday observation.
- Anja Percival explored the soft, atmospheric shifts of interior light and its emotional resonance in enclosed spaces.
- Katherine Jones, Nick Loaring, and Eunice Routledge each brought fresh, tactile approaches to print, making the viewer aware of both texture and tone in their highly crafted works.
One of the things I love most about Filming Art Installations is how these projects remind us that art is not just decoration—it’s an active part of how we experience and understand our environment. The Lumen building, as part of Newcastle’s Helix innovation district, is designed for work, research, and creativity. The decision to commission a permanent collection of original prints—and embed them within public and private spaces—was a bold move. It signals that art is not a separate luxury but a vital part of how we think, work, and inhabit the world.
The project also unfolded in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming Art Installations during this time was a powerful reminder that even in moments of uncertainty, art has the power to connect us, offer hope, and bring light—literally and metaphorically—into our daily lives. It felt particularly meaningful to contribute to a project that brought beauty and creativity into a brand-new urban space when so many public interactions were otherwise restricted.
Technically, Filming Art Installations like The Lumen Permanent Collection required flexibility. The architecture of The Lumen offered beautiful but sometimes challenging lighting conditions, from bright reflective glass to narrow corridors and varying ceiling heights. I relied on a lean setup, including:
- Cameras: 4 x Panasonic GH4
- Audio: Rode Wireless GO II for interviews
- Editing: Adobe Premiere Pro
It’s proof that you don’t need the biggest camera—just a strong sense of story, good light, and people who know what they’re doing when filming art installations.
My goal in Filming Art Installations is always to capture the human stories behind the art, the skill in the making, and the relationship between artwork and place. With Northern Print, I created six individual artist films and one overall short documentary about the installation, all available through Northern Print’s YouTube channel. Each film acts as both a portrait and a process piece, offering insight into the artists’ working methods, their materials, and the role printmaking continues to play in the North East’s creative identity.
If you’re interested in Filming Art Installations or would like to explore more of how I approach capturing art installations and traditional crafts on film, you can view my other artist films here and my broader work in heritage films.
If you’d like to watch more of my work exploring community stories, creative resilience, and diverse subjects across arts, heritage, and the environment, you can explore all my films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/films-by-alan-fentiman/