| SSSI
- a site of special scientific interest
a
work in progress commisioned for the Swipe Digital Art Festival
at PVA medialab, Bridport, UK |
| The
site in question lies within the building that now houses the PVA
mediaLab - ex-town Library and ex-Scientific and Literary Institute.
A small courtyard 1.5 x 6 metres square surrounded on all sides by
walls at least 4 metres high. Only accessible from the basement to
which there is no public access. |
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| In
a region known for its landscape, coastline, areas of outstanding
natural beauty and environmental and geological significance this
scrap of unseen and forgotten space seems an unlikely site for investigation.
Yet this site, unused and neglected and of no apparent practical
or aesthetic value, is a micro-environment rich with life and history.
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| The
work SSSI, like The Literary and Scientific Institute in which it
is housed, relates to a time when the arts and sciences were not separate
and distinct disciplines but were part of a spectrum of activities
that could interact, borrow and inspire each other. The processes
employed in the surveying of this insignificant site model those of
the early naturalists - the dedicated amateurs who, through a combination
of observation and inspiration, developed the beginnings of modern
science. |
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| The
presentation of survey material via cctv and digital media speak of
a new world view - a world where experience and knowledge is increasingly
mediated and received via multiple electronic networks. And yet here,
beneath your feet, in the most unlikely places, nature, history, life,
goes on. |
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