That Was The Week That Was – 21st September 2025

"You're very calm." One of the two sisters, and the one who wasn't as stressed as the other, said this to me as I sat on a bench at Leeds station after having all been told to leave the train to Liverpool for some reason or another. I explained commuting from Manchester every day for over ten years conditions you to embrace the chaos that can come from travelling on the UK's railways.

I found myself at Leeds station as I headed back from York following a trip to York Art Gallery the previous day to attend the opening of the Aesthetica Art Prize 2025, where myself and Gary Hustwit had our work Nothing Can Ever Be The Same being shown as one of the finalists, running non-stop in real-time for next five months.

On the day of the opening Aesthetica had put together a one day art symposium including talks from past Aesthetica alumni. A few minutes after arriving at the University I found myself feeling like a student as I queued with lunch voucher in hand for the free lunch provided to all the attendees. I chatted to one of the curators of the London Design Museum who was also attending the symposium.

After lunch – I had a jacket potato – I spoke briefly about our work. When Robin McNicholas, co-founder of Marshmallow Laser Feast got up to speak about their work he prefaced it with a shout of "Rock-on Brendan!" which made me laugh! Their work is brilliant, especially in the area of large public immersive installations. What struck me was how Robin and team very much tap into human experience and emotion in their work.

That evening saw the opening of the exhibition with a packed out crowd. Whilst our installation all worked well, there was so many people in the gallery you just couldn't hear the sound, to the extent that many people said to me "oh, there's sound?" Thankfully the following day I returned to York Art Gallery, to give a talk about the work to those members of the public who had signed up, only to find the space much quieter and was able to experience the work as intended.