A project based around exploring and creating art works which respond to the powerful elemental effects experienced along the Norfolk coastline.
Natural Tensions is a project which has been being realised over the past year, from September 2010 to May 2011, along the Norfolk Coast. The project consists of a body of work which has been made both for and as a response to a set of sites. These sites have been selected for studying and documenting, in order to create a body of work to directly install at these locations. However, throughout the project it has became important to ensure that none of these works subtracted from their environments, and that they only aided the viewing of the landscape.
The main sites that inspired the project were Hunstanton, Happisburgh and Kessingland, with the project centre being in Norwich. The coastal sites were selected as they represent the interface between man and nature; the vast expanse of the ocean meeting man’s territory. Therefore the project was entitled Natural Tensions, as it is in this space where tensions arise, those of how man faces and interacts with the powerful elemental effects of the sea. Works were made that drew attention to this often silent tension between man and his environment, and how man lives in the shadow of natural forces. Especially in sites such as Happisburgh, which suffers from some of the highest rates of coastal erosion on the Norfolk Coast, properties and people’s lives are literally falling into the sea. Therefore these works aim to restore a respect for the elements.
The project is made up of interconnected fragments, which all share the common goal of aiming to enhance our appreciation for the beauty and the power of these landscapes. Taking many formats, from preparatory work and documentation, to outdoor sculptures and structures, back into indoor installations. These indoor works and installations aim to bring these ideas which are explored outdoors, into the gallery space. Blurring the boundaries of indoor and outdoor interactions with the landscape. This website documents all these fragments and stages of the project, which culminate to form the final piece of the project; the Natural Tension’s Installation at the Norwich University College of the Arts Degree Show 2011.
