OF CONFLUENCE (2023) Multi-Channel Video Installation, Pebbledash, Jesmonite, Polystyrene, Dimensions Variable

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OF CONFLUENCE emerges as an ensemble of animations, sound and sculpture exploring the arterial route of a tidal river, namely the river Rother. In conceiving the work, Wilson was drawn to the subsequent bulges, spillages and blockages forming vast salt marshes creating transitions between land and sea.

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Propelling through the passing landscape of technology, recalibrated engineered and organic forms perform choreographed motions, simulating rhythms of our synthetic and natural ecologies. Parallel to this, percussive sounds, modulated voices and processed field recordings loop and evolve in motifs echoing notions of both past, present and the possibility of evolution.

 

Pebble dashed navigation buoys take up residence within the installation referencing the historical dredging of pebbles from the seabed for use within the building industry. Used for covering up poorly constructed brickwork, pebble dashing became ubiquitous in post-war Britain as a way of producing cheap housing during a time of rapid development and societal need. A characteristic of the suburban landscape and along our coastlines, it signals as a reminder of the natural resources used within our fabricated environments. Suspended in time and place, the buoys remain anchored to the land in the ebb and flow of our manufactured ecosystem.

 

OF CONFLUENCE was comissioned by Blackshed Gallery and produced in partnership with The Talent Accelerator at the De La Warr Pavillion, Rother District Council and Eastbourne Alive.