The Year in Numbers
This was perhaps my busiest year in the studio, as my exploration of environmental themes has deepened. The highlight of 2022—the highlight of my career thus far—was presenting Where Once the Waters at Venice Biennale. I consider the exhibition to have been a success, but it did of course come with its own set of challenges. The project has continued to grow, with additional features and reconfigured installations planned. This is an art project which reads best from a distance; it’s an ongoing pursuit, made from multiple parts.
Here’s a summary of the year in numbers.
25
Artists
2022 kicked off with the curatorial project Points of Return. Some of you may know, I co-run an eco-art initiative with artist Gonzaga Gómez-Cortázar. We share and curate climate focussed artworks in a blog and virtual gallery. Points of Return presents artworks by 25 international creatives, in a digital exhibition aimed at both raising awareness and offering nature based strategies which address the dreaded “point of no return”—the point at which irreversible climate change will be locked-in. The virtual exhibition will remain online indefinitely.
365 Seascapes
600 Letters
Discovering the opportunities we have within reach for combatting aspects of the climate crisis also lies at the core of Where Once the Waters. Here, the aim has been to invite people to reflect, on their own terms, upon the changes happening at places we may feel some connection to. I believe that we have a better chance of engaging with aspects of climate change if we can do this in a personal way. In this vein, in May I opened a small solo exhibition—principally discussing the topic of rising sea levels—at the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale. The exhibition comprised two installation artworks formed of many small parts. One group of Letters (typed antique papers addressed to people around the world) offered readers insights into our changing coastlines; while a group of miniature seascapes spoke of sustainability and the need to care for our resources. Over the course of its display, Where Once the Waters was well received by visitors and media, with regular exhibition tours and discussions. In time, I’ll digitise the Letters so that everyone can read them. You can also take part.
5
Letters
My aim is to further disperse the themes behind Where Once the Waters, and this means presenting offshoots of the project in different venues and formats. Five framed Letters were exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show in London, some of which explained changes in the level of the River Thames. Just like our seas, rivers, estuaries and lakes will also be impacted as our planet’s global average temperature rises.
6 Days
9 Days
12 Days
A collection of 365 painted seascapes are included in Where Once the Waters, each named for a day of the year. The decision to paint one year of sea references the record breaking ocean temperatures we’re experiencing year-on-year. These have been split into smaller groupings and displayed with The Auction Collective, Tatha Gallery and the Fry Art Society. Each seascape has been painted onto an antique metal box or tin. Twenty are currently available for sale online. It is the sale of these works which funds my conceptual projects.
2
Billboards
So far over 600 Letters have been typed onto an assortment of found papers, addressed to people around the world, each offering a sea-level “reading”. These letters aren’t sent (at least not in their physical form), they’re added to a growing collection. A Letter to Rhea was enlarged and presented in billboard format in Brooklyn, New York, thanks to the I AM WATER campaign; a Letter to Mesi was digitally screened during COP27 in Egypt thanks to IkonoTV. This is a different way to present the information the letters contain, specifically addressed to locals. If we know what is happening locally, we stand a better chance of meeting that issue. Climate change shouldn’t feel “far off” and issues such as sea-level rise could impact us all, regardless of where we live. We need to be discussing this more.
10
Films
For the third time, I presented digital works during COP (the annual United Nations climate conference). This year I created a pair of new video artworks, each exploring localised variations in sea-level rise, contributing to the conversation started in Venice. These were screened in Sharm El-Sheikh in the COP27 Green Zone, and streamed online alongside eight other films. From January these will reside permanently on the IkonoTV website. IkonoTV shares an exciting variety of artists’ films. Currently they’re featuring Francis Alÿs’s Children’s Games, a standout series presented at Venice Biennale and perfect to enjoy over the holidays.
2
Books
As well as the book created to accompany Where Once the Waters, this year I featured in Out of the Box: A Celebration of Contemporary Box Art. This is a joyful publication, packed full of fascinating artists bound by a love of collecting.
100
Days
Looking ahead to next February, I’m excited to present a group of 100 miniature seascapes from Where Once the Waters as part of the Scottish Gallery group exhibition Contemporary. Further details will be announced soon.
Online exhibition Points of Return
Exhibition Where Once the Waters
Painted antique tins from a series of 365
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022
Billboards: Brooklyn & COP27
Where Once the Waters book
Out of the Box book
100 Days destined for The Scottish Gallery