A new work for Whitstable Biennale 2014. The Neptune Plant, specific to the Kent coast has been long harvested by fishermen near the estuary and distributed at the harbour to a cottage industry of cleaning, bunching and dying for sale inland, for aquariums. Fine in structure, the plant is in fact a species of marine animal – the dried skeletal colonies of hydroids. Installed in Whitstable Library Lecture Hall, the film uses as its soundtrack selections from All in a Garden Green composed by romantic Kent-born John Jenkins in 1650 and performed by local cellist Matthew Roberts. Alongside a letterpress poem, the installation presents this peculiar organism as a character, bridging animal and vegetal existence. Within the library there was also a shelf of selected books related to the research.
Dance of the Neptune Plant (2014) from Aye Columba on Vimeo.
Film
Letterpress poem
Selected books related to the research
The Dance of the Neptune oak table can now be found at LT Ranch Space, Lithuania (photo: K.Kotov)
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