The Watchmen

Inspired by coastal architecture and particularly the WWII pillboxes found along the Sussex coast. The diagrams on the right-hand side panel represent the different designs of pillbox seen along the coastal path. The drawing is a piece of impossible geometry inspired by the pillbox lookout windows. From the 'Beneath the Waves' series: This work is an opportunity to meditate upon our place within the world, against the immense spaces and epic timescales evoked by the sea. It reminds us of our interconnectedness and the diverse, history that shapes who we are. The seas are our only true border, others are political fictions. An open border but a dangerous one, between the known and unknown, fluctuating, unfixed, permeable. We find ourselves transfixed by the sea, it is at once calming yet unknowable, conjuring a sense of awe and wonder. This work engages with what it is like to be at the mercy of something vast and our attempts to comprehend, control, exploit and protect it. The oceans are overwhelming, ever changing, and with unfathomable depths. The embedded data, symbols, impossible geometry, numbers or words will reveal hidden forces of coastal nature; winds, tides, geology, marine life, and our dogged, sometimes futile attempts to conquer them. This work was originally commissioned through the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Hospital Redevelopment Public Art Programme.