Launching Spring 2023
A lesser-known stretch of England’s rugged North West coast is the inspiration for a newly announced public art commissions programme launching in early 2023. Deep Time—Commissions for the Lake District Coast celebrates West Cumbria’s varied landscape and rich heritage, bringing artists into a direct dialogue with its geology, ecology, industry and rugged beauty.
Deep Time: curatorial concept
The programme explores where the Lake District National Park meets the Irish Sea, drawing upon ideas of time evoked by the area’s long relationship with geological and mineral exploration. It is home to the world’s first undersea mine, alabaster and gypsum deposits, and—most notably—an abundance of iron ore which lends the landscape its distinctive red hue.
Although this area is home to four Lake District valleys, England’s deepest lake (Wastwater) and its tallest mountain (Scafell Pike), it is much more than lakes and fells. This coastline has been depicted for centuries by artists and writers; particularly Whitehaven, with its impressive Georgian architecture and rich history of shipbuilding, seafaring and trade.
The project has been commissioned by Copeland Borough Council and is funded by HM Government’s Coastal Communities Fund, Sellafield Ltd’s Six Social Impact multiplied programme and Arts Council of England and is an integral part of the Connecting Cumbria’s Hidden Coast Programme (CCHC).
Deep Time: public commissions
The Deep Time programme includes six new site-specific art commissions by artists installed in coastal locations between the iron ore landscapes of Millom to the South and the maritime town Whitehaven to the North.
In the South, Martin Boyce (Glasgow, UK) has been working with Edinburgh based architects Konishi Gaffney on the design of a new building for Silecroft beach overlooked by the imposing Black Combe fell. Marcus Coates (London, UK) has been working in the ecologically rich area of Drigg and Ravenglass, near Muncaster Castle. This area includes over 1000 acres of dunes which are home to the rare Natterjack Toad.
In the North, Susan Philipsz (Glasgow, UK) has been working with Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners to develop a new artwork, taking a cue from the Georgian town’s seafaring past, including its role as a major port of the rum trade. Yelena Popova (Urals, Russia) has been investigating the area’s history of textile production, working with Whitehaven’s Solway Hall to create a large-scale textile artwork which will serve as a backdrop for performance and celebration.
Along the coastline, Atelier van Lieshout (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) has been inspired by the area’s farming culture. He is creating a new architectural space where the public can take relief from the weather. Ryan Gander OBE RA (Chester, UK) has been commissioned to create a sculpture that comments on time as a new currency and how, perhaps, as a society we need to move away from the accelerated growth of capitalism, to a more instinctive rhythm of the eco-systems in which we have always lived.
The project also includes five new writers’ commissions by Himali Singh Soin, Issi Nanabeyin, Ruth Sutton, Kate Davis and Richard Skelton, who have each responded to the West Cumbrian landscape through history, myth and personal experience.
Deep Time: landmark artwork proposals
Deep Time includes design proposals for a major landmark artwork for the borough of Copeland which shall be exhibited at The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven, and the Windermere Jetty Museum, from September 2022. This includes four design proposals by artists including Olafur Eliasson with Robert Macfarlane; Rachel Whiteread; Roger Hiorns with Tom Emerson (6a); and Piet Oudolf with Nicolas Becker, Tom Piper, Emanuele Coccia, AMI (Artist Moving Image) and vPPR.
Deep Time: wider engagement
A public engagement programme bringing people into direct conversations with artists and their ideas, supported by Arts Council England. This includes three practice-led research residencies with Alistair Debling, Jamie Jenkinson and Cristina Picchi, in collaboration with the CNPPA (Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas), part of the University of Cumbria, embedding the artists in the local landscape and communities across six months and culiminating in a Deep Time symposium in 2023.
The coastal commissions will launch alongside a curated programme of art works and moving image works at landmarks and sites across the West Cumbrian coast. Further details on the opening weekend programme, performances, screenings, talks and events will be announced on the website.
Commissioner and Lead Curator: Aldo Rinaldi
Curator: William Rees
For press enquiries: Heather Sewell, T +44 (0) 7795 487 003 / hsewell [at] cumbriatourism.org
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