TRIGGER WARNING: CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGES. Originally shot around 2000, this has been reedited with a soundtrack by Simon Morley, http://www.simonmorley.com/biography/ This work results from several years attending large, public fireworks displays in London, with the primary objective of watching people rather than the actual displays. Each display provided just a few minutes when, with the large fireworks exploding overhead, individuals appeared mesmerised by the unfolding spectacle. In the final work we only see a series of tightly framed, black and white close ups of individual faces, gazing upward, explosively lit by flashes of light, the images having been recorded on an infra red camera setting. There was no sound in the original installation. So there was no way to know what exactly was causing the flashes. The piece was projected on a 6 metre wide screen hung high in the vaulted space of the Round Chapel, Hackney, London. Reviewed by Sarah Kent in Time Out. 2000. "A man gazes upwards, paying close attention to some phenomena in the sky. The expression on his face is hard to fathom; it could be fear, it could be wonder. A second man looks heavenward in open-mouthed amazement; awe must look like this. A woman mouths the words 'oh wow' as she smiles skywards … Watching childlike awe register on adult faces is such a pleasure … Stewart's video is a heavenly experience". Sarah Kent, Time Out London, October 2000.
