Whitstable Biennale 2022
June 2022We are pleased to announce that our newest work Ephemeral Evidence / How does the sea see? will be on view at the latest installation of Whitstable Biennale this year! You’ll find us at 1 Red Lion Lane (around the corner from The Horsebridge Arts Centre).
In 2021, Southern Water faced a record £90m fine after pleading guilty to illegally discharging sewage that polluted rivers and coastal waters in Kent, Hampshire and Sussex. The case was the largest criminal investigation in the Environment Agency’s history. Over the course of six years, Southern Water were responsible for thousands of sewage discharges while deliberately presenting a misleading picture of compliance to the Environment Agency.
Ephemeral Evidence interrogates the rationale behind the crime: the calculation that it is better to risk a fine for polluting the ocean than it is to responsibly treat wastewater, and questions why a fictional construct (money) is more important for many decisions than objective reality (the health of the ocean). While money has a singular witness in the banking system, the ocean has many different ways of describing its existence. The film runs on loop alongside its counterpart How does the sea see? which is geared towards younger audiences. The film is accompanied with an interactive scuplture. Come visit and etch your testimony of the sea on our clay landscape!
