A summer tour of Stand of the Sun
This summer, we presented the performance Stand of the Sun: A new solstice ritual for the melting metropolis across three different sites, in three different configurations. The timing was apt, with each performance occurring during heat waves, which made it physically challenging yet all the more powerful in its storytelling.
To mark summer solstice, Stand of the Sun opened Saatchi Gallery’s Late programme in London, where it’s sister-work, the sculpture My Body is a Sundial, is currently on display in the exhibition: The Sun and the Moon: Art inspired by the Celestial, which is open until 8 September. Here, audiences gathered around the sculpture as it was transformed into an illuminated stage through lighting design by Rachel Sampley that pulled the artwork outwards onto floor, walls and ceiling. The revised musical score, now featuring Melting Metropolis’ latest research and community stories, filled the gallery space as award-winning choreographers Alleyne Dance performed the ritual, accompanied by BSL by Michelle Wood.
You can watch a short clip of this performance here, and can listen to the full musical score, recently recorded, here.
A few days later, we shared an abbreviated version of Stand of the Sun as part of Futerra’s London Climate Action Week programme at Somerset House, supported by Wellcome. The creative team produced an immersive projection of the sculpture that filled the venue and bathed performers Alleyne Dance in the textures and colours of each panel as they articulated an embodied dialogue with the sun as it travels from outer space into our cities. Following, Dr Kara Schlichting and I shared how the artworks evolved over three years of collaboration, starting with Drawing Heat walks in New York (about which you can read here), and reflected on the impact of interdisciplinary collaborations in climate public engagement.
Lastly, Stand of the Sun was reimagined by Artangel at g39 Cardiff through a collaboration with myself and performers local to Cardiff - Jodi Ann Nicholson and George H Wale. They spent an intensive period developing their own embodied interpretation of the musical score, which followed a conversation between artist Abi Palmer and I exploring creative engagement with the climate crisis, weather and the more-than-human.
It has been a true pleasure to witness such different ways in which Stand of the Sun can be explored and shared in different spaces by different groups, for different audiences. Each one has deepened and expanded the work and the wider conversations Melting Metropolis is having about our relationship to the sun through time and space. We would love to hear from you if you would like to present Stand of the Sun for your audiences in the future. You can reach out to us about this via our Contact Page.
About:
Stand of the Sun is directed by Bryony Ella and produced by Joanna Penso. It features a score composed by Bumi Thomas and the sculpture My Body is a Sundial also by Bryony Ella. It has been commissioned and inspired by Melting Metropolis, and was first shown as part of the Cultural Reforesting programme at Orleans House Gallery, London, in 2025.
Images:
1. My Body is a Sundial at Saatchi Gallery, photograph by Ewelina Ruminska
2. Stand of the Sun at Saatchi Gallery, photograph by Arron Leppard
3. Stand of the Sun at Somerset House, photograph by Arron Leppard
4. Stand of the Sun at g39, photograph by Bryony Ella
