I was recently contacted, via the ‘Share your Stories’ section of the website, by Irene Brown, an artist who in 2013 made an art installation for Cragside called ‘Fulmination’. The installation was part of the Building Dreams exhibition, which marked the 150th anniversary of the house, and comprised a video of Cragside projected within a large glass chemistry flask, as you can see from the picture.
Irene says:
“A dramatic thunderstorm crashes repeatedly, flashes of lightning illuminating a tempestuous landscape where Cragside House appears held, fully three dimensional within the centre of the glass sphere. The piece provokes evocative associations between powerful natural forces and Armstrong’s harnessing of the elements to create hydroelectricity. The atmosphere in the room reflects the dangerous and magical potential of early experiments with electricity.”
For more pictures of this and other similar works by Irene, please visit her website, where you can also see the video used in the ‘Fulmination’ installation.