Thanet Warn(m)ing, 2024

Local sound recording by Mowgli TV

Medium: Film and sound installation

Dimensions: variable

Our sea levels are rising due to the climate emergency. As the sea levels rise our beaches will disappear. Recent scientific and local authority research predicts that this will happen in Thanet sometime after 2070. Thanet Warn(m)ing is an immersive light and sound installation that encapsulates the viewer in coloured light and fluctuating audio. It asks the viewer to consider the current climate crisis and how it will affect our coastline.

The work visualises local weather data from Manston weather station in Thanet and illustrates how the temperature has been rising locally over the last 60 years. The artwork highlights the correlation between our warmer temperatures and the sea levels rising due to the climate emergency. The higher the temperature the warmer the colour and the louder the sound. The audio for the piece is a local sound recording by the artist Mowgli TV which has been remixed by Aphra to respond to the weather data.

Thanet Warn(m)ing responds directly to local community feedback from the SPACER Creativity and Climate Change program where members of the public shared how important the beaches are to them.

The work was inspired by the ‘Show your stripes’ image by Professor Ed Hawkins and research for the piece was undertaken whilst on the SPACER Climate Breakdown residency in Ramsgate.

Image: Thanet's weather data from 1963-2023 translated into colour - the warmer the temperature, the warmer the colour.