In this episode of the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Podcast we hear from a trinity of voices – artist Tobias Zehntner, composer George Turvey, and curate Chad Chadwick – discussing place, community, spirituality and creation in relation to Tobias’ Halo installation, shown at the Grade I listed Anglo Saxon, All Saints Church, Earls Barton in April 2025.
Originally commissioned in the Abbaye de la Cambre, Belgium, Halo features a suspended light installation that creates a moving interplay of light and shadow that illuminates the church’s architecture and forms halos above the audience.
Woven into these conversations are 6 new pieces of music composed by George in response to the artwork, portraying the arrival of light, new beginnings, and the recurring circle of notes in the music mimicking the hypnotic swinging of the installation. These compositions originally accompanied the work for the Halo launch event in All Saints, Earls Barton.
Chad broadens the discussion with fascinating insights into the nature of play as a spiritual discipline.
A short transcript of the episode is available here.
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The accompanying visual is a video response to the episode, by artist Sapphire Goss.
Tobias Zehntner is a visual artist who uses recurring themes of light, movement, space and time in his practice. His recent work has focused on first-hand experience, often in the form of kinetic works and installation that require time from the viewer, encouraging new ways of seeing. His practice has roots in architectural space and natural science, amplifying the poetic nature of these seemingly controlled and logical inquiries.
George Turvey is a film composer and viola player from Northamptonshire, and recent Composition for Screen graduate from University for the Creative Arts. He makes music for film and games, conjuring imaginary words through otherworldly and arresting compositions.
Chad Chadwick served the first 18 months of his curacy training in All Saints, Earls Barton, and helped to make the connection with Fermynwoods Contemporary Art that enabled the Halo installation to find a home in Northamptonshire. He works with children and young people, supporting 380 churches in Peterborough Diocese. Outside of work he is also an ordained volunteer minister. Chad is passionate about conservation and spiritual ecology and loves encouraging young people to reengage with wild spaces.
Our curators for the Love + Light season of the Fermynwoods Podcast are Marie-Chantal Hamrock and Astrid Björklund. Marie and Astrid have previously collaborated as SUBTERRA for Aerial Community Radio in Aberdeen, which “navigates speculative narratives of the chthonic (of relating to or inhabiting the underworld) through text, poetry, soundscapes and music.”
Sapphire Goss is a multimedia artist who uses obsolete technologies to explore experimental materiality and hybrid collaborative forms to make work that grows, decays and lives beyond the screen. Sapphire responds to each podcast episode with a new video.