Buoy [Fr-Agile]

Developed during an artist's residency at Spurn Point* on the Humber Estuary, "Buoy" is one of two three-dimensional video sculptures produced in co-operation with Jo Millett (video). The timebased sculptures subtly recall centuries of slowly shifting sands and reflect the fragility of a historic coastline. 'Buoy [Fr-Agile]' features close-up footage of a performance which took place on a wet and blustery day in August 2008 on the shoreline of Spurn's North Sea beach: four yellow buoys marked the location where the estuary side of Spurn once existed in the 1850's. They were exposed to the powerful forces of nature that shape Spurn. The process, lasting from low to high tide, was documented on video by Jo Millett. (see: "Fr-Agile performance part 1&2") Footage of one of four buoys tossed about forcefully by the incoming sea is projected onto a curved semi-transparent screen made of unwoven warp threads, stretching between wall and floor. The shape of the screen goes with the flow of the water. The three-dimensional image shows waves which run along the threads through the space and undulate against the walls behind the screen. Weaving and video, two seemingly contrasting techniques, have been combined revealing a fascinating affinity. Interlacing lines reflect the binary nature of weaving that is believed to have led to the development of cyberspace and a digital age of immateriality. *Spurn Point is a narrow spit of land on Yorkshire's Holderness coast separating the North Sea from the Humber Estuary. This three and a half mile line of sand and shingle is a place of constant erosion and reformation. Spurn, currently a nature reserve, is also home to the only permanently manned lifeboat station in the UK.