My parents met at Butlins. It was 1992, and they both worked as lifeguards. They married in 1998, and separated in 2004. Was it a love story for the ages? Who’s to say? And whilst it might have ended for my parents, and my mum looks back at her wedding pictures with a sense of acute sadness for marrying a man she knew she wasn’t in love with, what doesn’t change, is how she felt at the beginning. That first glance, a flirtatious back and forth, a cheeky quick witted joke. What doesn’t change is how much he made her laugh. That moment, shining in the past like a beacon, warm and timeless, laying untouched by the coldness and the pain that came after. That moment, that spark? That is the essence of Love as Beginnings.

 

Love as Beginnings is a project dedicated to sharing the stories of these sparks, on multiple levels. Firstly, through an intimate one-to-one discussion with my participants, who are invited to exchange the tale of how their parents met with mine. Then, after I have used our dialogues to create physical manifestations of their stories in the form of sensual murals, I will display them in a live exhibition and invite both the participants and their parents to an immersive theatre experience. And finally, I’ll open up these stories to the public, and let them find their own golden moments in the mural of each beginning.

 

Love as Beginnings will foster a space for emotional growth and bonding between families, that we hope the project will evoke. For the parents, whose love stories these are, the exhibition provides a chance to remember these moments, right down to their smells, touches, and tastes. For the participants, the exhibition gives them a chance to connect with their parents over the magic in their past, to feel close, and promote another kind of love. Love as Beginnings is an expression and a celebration of love, in its purest moments. The spark that lights a fire, that can burn as hot as a raging inferno, or caress the skin like the gentle flicker of a candle. 

 

That is what makes Love as Beginnings so unique, and so special. Love as a concept is broad, indefinable, and vast in its reaches, so this project pinpoints love at its conception, and takes a journey from an intimate sharing of these perfect moments, to the elevation and illumination of an oral history fully realised and presented to the world. Collecting love stories has been a passion of mine for years, and the chance to share these snapshots of love would provide a much-needed light in the dark times we are currently living through. And after all, in the infamous words of Rik Mayall, love is always the answer. 

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Credits to Kai Speed for logo and header. IG: kjspeed_art