GEOGRAPH was a 6-month site-specific project exploring the nature of Birling Gap.
GEOGRAPH: Trace |
GEOGRAPH symbolised the geological tension between earth and sea, and the geological erosion of the chalk cliffs of the South Downs. TRACE
In May, over fifty participants created a 200 metre long erosion line of stone and other beach materials. Painter Sax Impey drew a series of chalk and water screens with images taken from microscopic images of the flint and chalk geology. Participants were led on a ritual chalk water offering to the low tide, blowing conch shells and ringing bells. Simultaneously, on the shoreline of Parangtritis beach in South-East Java, performance artist and dancer Parmin Ras was performing another water ritual, respectfully remembering the Asian Tsunami.
VANISHING POINT
At Bailey's Hill, Vanishing Point was the site-specific installation designed by Caitlin Easterby and Simon Pascoe. The sculpture was woven green sycamore in the shape of two interlocking curving waves, in-filled with wattle from hazel and willow. The materials echoed prehistoric building methods, and the sculpture was sited near to a burial ground.
GEOGRAPH: Vanishing Point |
For the closing ceremony in late September, Parmin Ras travelled to Birling Gap, and with Easterby and Pascoe, Impey, musician Ansuman Biswas and performer David Statham performed a purification ritual at the VANISHING POINT installation.
The audience was invited to walk through the sculpture, as a gateway between the visible and invisible, and down through the valley with a series of white flags marking the future erosion of the chalk cliffs. At Birling Gap beach, the water line was lit with fire before the closing water ceremony.
Rory Mortimore, Professor of Geology from the University of Brighton, advised on the area's geological formations. GEOGRAPH and the work of RED EARTH is reviewed by Oliver Lowenstein on greenmuseum.org Funders: Arts Council England, National Trust, Made in Brighton, Wealdon District Council Photographs: Caitlin Easterby and Charlotte McPherson
GEOGRAPH: Vanishing Point |
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