And If Not Now, When? is an interactive sound and film installation created for COP26 at National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. Though designed to be shown on multiple screens, a single screen version can be viewed here. Audience reactions can be viewed here.
The Covid pandemic altered our way of living in previously unthinkable
ways. During the initial stages of the lockdown, we witnessed events that would have been considered fantastical at any other time; wild animals roaming urban centres, skies in colours more vivid than any seen in our lifetime, and a chorus of previously unheard sounds. Besides showing us that we have to change or risk further destructive
disruptions to our world, our experience of the pandemic has also demonstrated that a new way of living is possible and what it might be like.
With And If Not Now, When? Philip Pinsky and Karen Lamond responded to these experiences and the urgency of the moment by creating an interactive sound and film installation that shows we have the agency to transform our cities for the better, to make our streets more equal and more accessible for all sectors of society and to mitigate the impending climate crisis. And If Not Now, When? asks us if we want to go back to where we were or want to use what we have learned to create a different urban reality.
The installation takes the form of heightened audio-visual representations, using sound, film and animation. It is a visceral experience, aiming to unlock and disturb received wisdom through aurally striking, visually arresting, humorous and seductive interrogations. Critically, the space is reactive to the audience, empowering us to change the environments we inhabit.
The piece was timed to coincide and engage with the COP26 climate conference in November.
- Conception – Philip Pinsky and Karen Lamond with extraordinary assistance from Gigi Cone Welch
- Cinematographer – Karen Lamond
- Sound Designer – Philip Pinsky
- Editor – Gigi Cone Welch
- Illustrator – Laura Darling
- Animator – Tom deMajo
- Post Production – We Love Images
- Set Designer – Karen Tennent
- Multi-camera Thingummybob Invention – Bill Lamond
- Technical Production Manager – Roy Fairhead
- Social Media Manager – Rosie Bans
- Marketing Design – Emma Quinn
- Front of House Manager – Kath Lowe
- Front of House Ushers – Kirsty McIntyre, Chris Mundy, Linda Taylor, Matthew Hall, Hannah Murdoch
- Deputy Head, Bruntsfield Primary – Lesley Lamond
- Supported by Grid Iron
And If Not Now 