Whitstable Herne Bay Dover…

introduction

‘…for boats catching fish like journalists catch stories, for asylum seekers looking for haven – a work for Whitstable Harbour.’

Title

Whitstable Herne Bay Dover Folkestone Rye Hastings Eastbourne Brighton Shoreham Worthing Littlehampton Portsmouth Southampton Christchurch Bournemouth Poole Swanage Weymouth Bridport Lyme Regis Sidmouth Exmouth Teignmouth Torquay Totnes Plymouth Truro Falmouth St Ives Newquay Bridgwater Weston Bristol Newport Penarth Barry Port Talbot Swansea Llanelli Tenby Milford Haven Cardigan Aberystwyth Caernarfon Holyhead Bangor Rhyl Birkenhead Bromborough Liverpool Preston Blackpool Fleetwood Whitehaven Maryport Annan Stranraer Girvan Ayr Irvine Campbeltown Largs Ardrossan Greenock Dunoon Oban Stornoway John O’Groats Inverness Banff Aberdeen Montrose Arbroath Dundee Perth St Andrews Alloa Berwick Newcastle Hartlepool Whitby Scarborough Bridlington Hull Goole Grimsby Boston Skegness Kings Lynn Great Yarmouth Lowestoft Ipswich Felixstowe Harwich Colchester Clacton Maldon Southend Sheerness Faversham

images

taking paper

description

I subscribed to almost 100 papers from places with harbours, fishing and papers with the name of the town in the title. People usually collect newspapers because of a royal celebration or a moon landing. In June 2006 these newspapers were gathered for simply coinciding with the Biennale dates. This becomes an archive of a random moment in time, rather than for reasons of historical significance. Harbours right around the British mainland are points of entry and exit from the UK, they delineate between land and sea. There is a slow evolution from industrial use to leisure and tourism. Stories from the newspapers were read out on the first three Sundays in June at 2.30 pm at Whitstable Harbour. I focussed on stories of regeneration, tourism, intolerance, and harbour’s change of emphasis mostly. Otherwise I picked randomly or out of my curiosity. The work was installed in Plymouth in April 2007 with Plymouth Arts Centre who organised a series of reading events within the container, including shanty singers, and a poet.

details

Date

2006 and 2007

Location

Whitstable Harbour and Plymouth City Centre

Media

Sea container, shelving, seating, 100 local newspaper titles, public readings

Commissioner

Whitstable Biennale 2006/Canterbury City Council

Whitstable Herne Bay Dover is available for touring to harbour locations.

Links

http://www.whitstablebiennale.com/

credits

Artist

Anna Best

Production

Sue Jones

Photography

Simon Steven

Stuart Moore

Advisor

Michael Weir, Whitstable Harbour Master