Moth Island
2000, Watermans Art Centre

The island in the Thames opposite Watermans Arts Centre is an urban wasteland outside normal city space. The vegetation is thick, un-penetrable to the eye and is slowly engulfing the island's buildings. The emptiness of this space is disturbing, allowing the imagination to invest it with narratives and ghosts. Moth Island amplified this process.

Apertures cut into the gallery's white walled interior opened up directly onto the island below. In each window were fastened two binoculars on stands, each trained upon the island. Looking through these binoculars one could see small, specific sites greatly magnified. The artist had placed a variety of objects throughout the island such as a toilet seat, a clock and a flag. Each view hinted towards an absent presence - a paradoxical enigma.

Moth Island was a place animated by the act of viewing.