The beautiful view from Cromer Artspace masks a tension: tourism, energy and fishing sectors marginalise nature and human behaviour is driving up sea temperatures leading to more storm surges and flooding.  My work here explored human relationships with other species living in this fragile space. Bulrushes and reeds collected from the marshes were transformed into rafts and luminous warning beacons. Seaweed and reed mops explored the overwhelming physical and emotional impact of flooding on domestic spaces. Flint and seaweed were combined playing with the space between story and belief.  

 

Life Raft - made from bulrush tied with transom knots this buoyancy device explores how we can work with nature to reduce flooding through reed banks and salt marsh.

photo: Emma Illingworth for images.

 

Illumine - A warning beacon, an inverted lighthouse with reeds where the lighthouse used to warn of rocks (and other things) but the rocks warn of the impact of the sea on the shoreline and the reeds signify the constant shift between land, marsh and sea from erosion and accretion. Illumine is a warning of the site against itself and the hidden accumulation of toxins. A collaborative work by Margaret O’Brian @obrienmgt.

 

Overwhelm - Storm surges and flooding have an enormous impact on domestic life and the lives of other creatures living in the oceans.  Overwhelm describes the physical and emotional impact of climate change. Seaweed and reed mops and a washed up deck broom woven with mussels bring together human and non-humans and a chance to imagine an alternative collaborative future.

 

Mermaid Tresses - Mermaids and hag stones capture the space between story and belief.  At Cromer the beach is strewn with flints and ones with holes (hag stones) hang from the beach stairs promising luck and warding off spirits.  Mermaid imagery can be found in churches along the coast.

 

Precarious - The coastal landscape is constantly changing, pebbles slowly accrete and form new spits of land, cliffs erode, pioneer plants put down roots and turn beach into embryo dunes blurring the distinction between the animate and the inanimate. 

 

Future proofing - Bulrushes grow in marshland and provide nesting and resting habitats and food for birds, they have been used by people as tinder, in pillows as a building material, food and medicine, although in polluted water they accumulate toxins. We are constantly discovering how we can collaborate with other species so maintaining biodiversity protects and expands future options.