Throughout Airbourne 2006 - Eastbourne's annual Airshow - SpRoUt were Artists in Residence commissioned by the Towner Art Gallery.

Interlacing projects led by each of the artists -Par Avion (Samuel Dowd), Letting Go (Hayley Skipper) Alpha Mike Yankee (Amy Cunningham) took their cues from the seaside setting, aerial action overhead and transition of the Towner Gallery from Eastbourne's Old Town to a site adjacent to the spectacle of the Airshow.  

Wish Tower Slopes on Eastbourne's seafront provided the base for participatory projects that developed and accumulated throughout. Each day of the show focussed on the work of one of the artists. Final Take Off took place on Sunday 20 August at 5pm, when the culmination of all of the projects was launched, coinciding with the end of the airshow.

Letting Go - Marking the closure of the former Towner Gallery and the development of Eastbourne's new Cultural Centre, Hayley Skipper invited participants to create and collect their own postcard images of scenes, objects, or encounters that they wished to let go of or hold on to.

These images taken on mobile phones or digital cameras were exchanged for a commemorative limited edition postcard book. The postcard collection that was created by Airbourne visitors over the course of the show was presented as a slide show at the Final Take Off.

A series of stencilled banners were made for the exterior of the tent referencing images of the former Towner Art Gallery building and Beachy Head.

On Thursday 17 August at 3pm spectators witnessed a text intervention using the wish tower slopes as a site for a message of resistance and support for the spectators along the front and pilots overhead.

Alpha Mike Yankee - Using the striking and simple visual languages of flags and signals , Amy Cunningham distributed badges bearing different symbols whose designs made secret messages for those who wore them. The badges worn by the visitors created a 'score' which Amy sang at the Final Take Off.

On Friday 18 August at 3pm spectators witnessed a signalling intervention using a series of flags to communicate a special message for the famous British Aviatrix Amy Johnson.

Par Avion - In an attempt to reach outer-space by unusual measures and means of communication, Samuel Dowd invited participants to reflect on being airborne and contribute messages to specially customised aerogrammes which were sent from Eastbourne on the four winds, clocking up enough air miles to reach specific satellites and space stations.  

On Saturday 19 August at 3pm visitors to the show assisted the artist in his attempt to yoyo to the moon . Specially customised yoyos were distributed to volunteer co-pilots who participated in a live event where every oscillation counted towards reaching the target destination.

from top:
Amy Cunningham, A.m.y. performance
Amy Cunningham, A.M.Y. Semaphore flag
Hayley Skipper, let postcard book
Hayley Skipper, Letting go
tent on wish tower slopes

left from top:
Samuel Dowd, yoyococoa
Samuel Dowd, Yoyococoa (detail)