Sea Change
Glass, chemical composition of a 19th century storm glass, oxiding copper.2024
The term ‘sea-change’ was first used in William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ to describe a profound reversal of fortune from which there was no return. This large-scale sculptural work grapples with our contemporary sea-change, the climate crisis, and its impact on oceanic environments.
The sculpture is formed from a large glass droplet permanently sealed with the chemical composition of a storm glass. The storm glass is a nineteenth century weather-predicting instrument popularised by Royal Navy Admiral Robert FitzRoy who placed these instruments at seaports to predict storms. The state of crystallization within the liquid was ‘read’ to predict incoming weather.
Sea Change dramatically upscales this historical instrument, forming a ‘living sculpture’ that is constantly in a state of flux based upon weather conditions. Looking through the glass vessel, the sculpture acts as a magnifying lens for the ‘sublime’ ocean vista behind. Yet due to the curved shape, the view is inverted, making strange this familiar oceanic view and visualising a reversal of circumstances in an era of climate change.
Sea Change acts as an ‘instrument’ for making visible atmospheric and human forces contributing to transformation of coastal environments.
