JOY Found Me by Amy Broch

A new interactive art installation that invites members of the public to have Fun for Fun’s sake.

Ground floor window (a socially distanced artwork to be viewed from the street outside) 48 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 5DR

With social distancing still in place and lockdown tensions continuing to rise, in a previously empty city centre shopfront; artist Amy Broch has created a playful art installation where whimsical characters become alive and interact with the public outside, to create joy bombs, an artistic equivalent to photo bombing. Broch’s installations embrace possibility and hope through eliciting a sense of joy and humour in an otherwise turbulent world.

JOY Bomb London creates site-specific multi-sensory installations that transform ordinary spaces into mini-worlds – playful explosions of sunny, squishy, furry, rainbow-filled delights. The artist draws from childhood nostalgia, pop culture and the irreverent contents of her shimmering, candycoated brain. Her work provides opportunities to explore, connect and laugh. Many Scientists believe that a good laugh is like a break for your brain; it can restore hope and revive optimism. JOY Bomb London’s creative mission is to celebrate FUN for FUN’s sake and to make memorable moments happy ones.

So, come and spoon out the happy, slather it on, then roll around until you’re covered head to toe in all its glittery glory.

Artist Amy Broch says:

“My artwork aims to provide a therapeutic release for people, each and every day is important, and I would like to make people as happy as possible - I build my joy bombs with the aim of filling people’s hearts with tiny joy drops”.

About Amy Broch:

JOY Bomb London was created by whimsical gangster and emerging conceptual artist Amy Broch after her husband Sean’s 2018 ALS diagnosis. Immediately, the couple began exploring every treatment available in order to treat and slow the progression of the disease. Learning that happiness was linked to better treatment outcomes and longevity for ALS patients was a big moment. Suddenly, the colourful, playful installations Amy had been creating and experimenting with for years had a greater significance. Proceeds from every installation support the Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS. It is the largest hospital-based research program in the world and supports early stage trials of promising ALS treatments.

About Illuminate Productions:

Illuminate Productions are a London-based non-profit art organisation, commissioning and producing contemporary art in unusual yet accessible environments, with direct public interaction. They bring together emerging and established artists, organisations and individuals in experimental partnerships to make site-specific work in challenging contexts. Illuminate Productions develop opportunities for artists to create groundbreaking, high impact art installations and interactive experiences in unusual spaces; to engage and inspire a universal audience.

Over the past 15 years they have commissioned, curated and produced more then 250 exhibitions and events. They strive to develop and build on past arts and well-being projects in the future, through interactive artworks and an art on subscription scheme. They are currently developing the Feel-Good Experience, which sets out to banish negativity and excite the senses. Visitors will be invited to journey through a series of interactive and joyful multi-sensory art installations designed to enhance wellbeing and connectivity. The project will engage the hard to reach, the difficult to engage and will offer the opportunity to take part in a positive creative experience.

Past projects include Scream the House Down by Marcus Lyall, an interactive, art installation designed for lockdown that invited members of the public to vocalise their inner frustrations to power a largescale light installation. PiP’s Plant Parlour by Mileece; a bio-reactive, plant-controlled mobile installation designed to open pathways to relaxation and emotional healing through nature, art and sound. On Your Wavelength by Marcus Lyall where participants minds powered a light and sound installation, Drive Dead Slow (The Dodgems of Your Mind), where a collective of visual, sound and light artists collaboratively created the world’s first artist-designed bumper car arena, and a full-scale wax house that slowly melted and an Upside Down House by Alex Chinneck. They also curated and produced, Merge Festival, an annual arts, music and performance festival drawing on the rich heritage of London's Bankside, and DRIFT, a series of strategically placed site-specific artworks in, alongside, and over the river Thames.