Clouded Border at Durlston Castle Belvedere

Clouded Border | Site-specific installation | Durlston Belvedere | 2022

Many thanks to everyone who came along to see Clouded Border at Durlston Country Park near Swanage, which closed on Sunday 25th September. 

It was an extraordinary privilege to be able to present our work in the Belvedere of Durlston Castle, looking out towards the distant horizon, surrounded by clouds and sea. On the final weekend we started broadcasting a sequence of Morse code signals drawn from the Oboe radio navigation system (developed and deployed from Durlston during World War II) alongside fragments of Paul Sartin's haunting 'moth theme' for oboe. The mingled sounds - past and present - drifted through the Castle and out of the open windows of the Belvedere. Crowds of swallows swooped past, making final feeding forays before starting their autumn migration. It was magical.

The exhibition was the culmination of around 15 months work, including two on-site field trips in June 2021 and March 2022 and extensive research into Durlston’s history as a lookout and signalling station. 

In developing sound for the project, we feel very honoured to have had the opportunity to work with the late Paul Sartin (1971- 2022). Paul died unexpectedly a week before he was due to perform a work he'd composed in response to the exhibition's themes. Instead we presented some fragments of recorded sound and text that we had from our time working with him. His oboe, signalling from the Belvedere, was always intended to be a vital element of the overall installation.  

Clouded Border: laser-cut plywood, woven polypropylene and wire, digital screen mounted on a cut log, felt, window film and window cleaner. The installation also included 7 minutes of digital video with sound (looped) and a separate sound and text piece played intermittently throughout the final weekend.