MORROWMORROW is an ongoing body of work exploring the significance of the mythological ‘deluge’ in the contemporary context of the climate crisis, where further great floods are ongoing and imminent. The work is made using a combination dry stone walling, 3D scanning, animation and film. It follows the build up to a flood through the lens of two dry stone structures; a well, and a tower.
The starting point for the work was the term ‘ANTEDILUVIAN’, a biblical term describing the time ‘before the flood’. I’m interested in this categorisation of time into periods of history, mythology and geology, and how certain narratives have influenced our interpretation of the past and future.
In early geology, the history of the earth was founded on biblical narratives, therefore the term ‘antediluvian’ was a scientific one. Sedimentary stones were associated with the creation of plants and animals, and were considered to have been laid down by god before the flood. With this in mind, the work centres the medium of limestone dry-stone walling.
I’m drawn to this medium in both a material and symbolic sense. The sedimentary stone functions as a reminder that life existed long before humanity and will prosper after. These structures are simultaneously strong and permeable: without mortar they survive flooding, as the water flows straight through, but their porous nature means they offer no protection against a flood.
In the mythology of various cultures, life begins in an endless ocean. Within the work, I’m approaching the flood myth and creation myth as a cycle from end to beginning. The narrative presented here takes place in a period ‘before’ a disaster.
