Happiness, Loneliness and Animals

11 July 2019

Compass Live Art commissions and presents interactive live art projects in Leeds, hosting an artistic residency programme, as well as stand alone projects and, of course, their biennial Compass Festival, the most recent of which took place in November 2018. 

Compass is delighted to announce the release of Happiness, Loneliness and Animals by Chris O’Connor. This publication, supported by a Live Art UK enhancement fund, is a series of reflections on their fourth festival in November 2018. This body of work unpacks how live art and public encounters truly made an impact in the city of Leeds. It features different voices, from artists, participants, audiences, dogs, and placement students; all of whom engaged with the festival and came to view Leeds in a different way. 

Compass welcomed a whole host of artists to Leeds in 2018 - including: Jack Tan, Scottee, Redhawk Logistica, Etheridge and Persighetti, and French and Mottershead. Happiness, Loneliness and Animals provides a commentary on the variety of socially engaged art works that Compass facilitated - how it helped to activate communities, engaging with over 13,000 people and building a discourse on wider social and political matters in the city and beyond. Happiness, Loneliness and Animals is divided into four parts:  How Leeds Feels Today; Isolation and Loneliness; Connection, Physical and Spiritual; and Our Place in the Environment. 

Compass Festival 2018 was supported by Arts Council England, Leeds City Council, Leeds BID and Leeds Beckett University. Happiness, Loneliness and Animals: Reflections from Participants of Compass Festival 2018 was written by Chris O’Connor and supported by Live Art UK.

The publication can be viewed here.