‘YOU AND I ARE EARTH’ plasticine and acrylic 2026. 1 of 15 text installations
This text installation at 15 sites in Ventnor during their 10 day fringe festival allowed a chance to try out an idea I had a few years ago. The phrase comes from a 17th century plate in the London museum I saw many years ago. It struck me then as a reminder of the cycle of decay and regeneration of all materials and how both the plate and us would eventually become constituent chemical pieces. Elements that would become something new. It may also have been intended as a reminder of the owners mortality and if part of a set then all of those who dined in a group at the same time would get the jolt of their finite existence while tucking into their meal.
I wanted to convey a double meaning to anyone who came upon the installation. Firstly the original one and another of more optimism.
The placement of the pieces in or near cracks in walls or window frames was to highlight the start of the process of decay. Ventnor like many coastal towns is exposed to a lot of geological movement in its cliffs. Recently the community has been disrupted by large blocks of rock slipping towards the sea. My small text pieces tried to link that inevitable process with the small signs of its ongoing nature. I also wanted a feeling that the solidity we take for granted in the world we live on is not so secure.
I chose to write the text in all capitals to convey a more positive reminder that we are all part of the Earth. The plate was written in lower case which read as ‘earth’ in that it was describing soil. I wanted to keep that meaning and that of ‘Earth’ as a planet. The only way I could think of doing that was to write it in all capitals.
After 10 days the work came down I had put it up overnight and did the same when I took it away. It wasn’t a trail and initially I wanted people to happen upon them rather than collect them as part of a game. I had enough feedback to suggest that people had taken it their own way. Some contacting me for clues of where they were. There were some notable physical acts of reaction. Above is one I found hilarious ( it was hanging on a cage stopping rocks falling on a road) and if I’m honest one that with wit punctures a bit of the pomposity I felt when conceiving the work and highlights my thoughts about my use of these materials to convey a meaning of decay. They were chosen out of haste and in future will be more degradable. Two reactions came through the scraping out and destruction of the text. I’m happy that someone had seen them and made some interaction and it left me making up possible scenarios about their demise
On reflection it was an idea that has some clarity as it hit other’s eyes but would need more tightening of total concept to be really effective