Last November, as part of the Dumfries Christmas Lights Switch-On, members of Young Stove embarked on their first project—creating an interactive artwork on High Street.
Exploring ideas for a less commercial, more natural Christmas, the group decided to gift live Christmas trees to those attending the Switch-On in exchange for a Christmas wish of goodwill.
Young Stove Christmas Lights: A Report by Michael Moore
Originally, I had two concerns about the project: “Would we have enough time for the event to be a big hit?” and “Would the public truly experience a non-materialistic Christmas?”
I was relieved to find my worries were unfounded—as within an hour and fifty minutes, all the trees had been re-homed, and the Glowing Gifts, with their attached wishes, were arranged ornately on and around the stand.
Far from people simply saying something to receive a tree, I found that the majority were genuinely interested in understanding how to help their tree flourish. Many even struggled to choose a thoughtful wish or hope. Seeing people truly consider what they would give if they could was brilliant.
The only thing that impressed me more than the public’s enthusiasm was my fellow Young Stove members. From the outset, they engaged with the public effortlessly and showed no signs of stress, even as the crowd gathered around our stand, eager to see what the event was about. Every member instinctively stepped into a fantastic operational mode—no need for orders or instructions. We worked together as equals, with genuine mutual respect, something not just rare among young people, but rare among people in general!
I’m impressed and delighted to see all the effort put into the project result in success, but I’m even happier to be part of a group of creative and ambitious people working in a naturally cooperative, autonomous way. It’s inspiring to see individual artists collaborating so seamlessly to bring the community together—even on a cold, dark winter’s day.
I’m excited to see what we come up with next, and I’m (almost) hoping it’s nothing too easy to achieve—sometimes, it seems better to be overambitious!
To see the full set of photos from the event, head to our Flickr page [here].
