Smeaton’s Tower lighthouse on Plymouth’s Hoe provided the structure for a site-specific exploration into concepts of displacement and the changing conditions of place. Experimentation into reflection, distortion, infinity and horizontal and vertical planes were explored with the use of acrylic mirrors.
The installation explored the 360 degree panoramic image and the ever-changing landscape of both land and sea. Observation, surveillance, the rotation of a lighthouse light and seeing what the lighthouse sees were all made visible.
The work also incorporated historical, cultural and social references, reflecting narratives of past and present, fact and fiction, the real and the imagined. The installation referenced a connection between the tower and the Suffragette movement with an inscription on the mirror section below the step - ‘Votes for women, Death in ten minutes - 19th April 1913’. The campaigners apparently placed a bomb on the step when Winston Churchill was on board a ship in The Sound to draw attention to their cause.
The work formed part of the inaugural, 2013 Plymouth History Festival.
