‘Precarious’ is part of a collaborative film,‘Watermarks’, which was shown as part of Walking the Land’s contribution to The University of The Highland and Island’s (UHI) Edge Conference. In September 2022, it was developed into ‘Precarious Edge’ and shown as part of the Murky Waters film programme as part of Art Walk Porty.
The footage was taken on Portobello Beach and at Wardie Bay in 2021, in response to the alarming number of deaths of young guillemots who unusually massed along this part of the coast of Edinburgh and East Lothian. This piece is part of a larger body of work looking at ecology and the effects that climate change is having on the bird population of the UK. See No Birds Land installation
'Watermarks' is a collective response to the UHI’s theme of ‘Edge’, and was made by a group of different artists from around the country who worked together over a period of a year. Walking the Land met regularly during this period while each artist made individual work. My two minute film, ‘Precarious’ is a part of this whole. Here is the link to the whole assemblage / film with details of all the artists who made work and their links
This film has since been expanded and reworked into ‘Precarious Edge’ and was shown as part of the Murky Waters, Art Walk Porty short film evening in September 2022. MAP magazine reviewed the programme here.
“The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said that while the exact cause remained unknown, the climate crisis was exacerbating the factors that lead to falls in seabird populations.”
The guillemot (RSPB site link)
Guardian article about the investigation into the deaths of these guillemots.
Guillemot wing, Portobello Beach, Edinburgh Summer 2021
Many thanks to Bea Parsons and my mum for watching and commenting on drafts, and to Richard and the team for compiling all the two-minutes of film into ‘Watermarks’.