An on-going project
While studying at Birmingham City
University in 2008-11 my practise explored array of documentary’s that were inspired from the
concept of capturing the public spending their time within busy environments.
I moved to Herne Bay, a Kent seaside town
in 2011 to start a new body of work, depicting beach huts, popular at English
resorts from the eighteenth century onwards, with both George III and Queen Victoria
having their own huts. Nineteenth century huts were pulled into the sea by horses, so that the Victorians could hide their modesty. Today most huts still follow a traditional design, with
some additional changes such a small compact kitchen/diners and are often
internally customised to provide home-comforts on a much smaller scale.
What inspires me about the beach huts is the
concept of their functional and un-functional role that attracts visitors and locals, and their
multi-coloured architectural abstractions that mark out many of our British seaside
towns. Deserted during the winter months, awaiting
the arrival of the new holiday season, the beach huts are often used for storing
beach furniture, inflatable’s, and surfboards. It’s an environment without windows
and only one door that lets in a certain amount of sunlight, with limited-space
and is perhaps not quite the home-from-home, yet it’s a place that gives a
sense of comfort, a place to escape to, for relaxing and taking in a calm
setting of solitude. Costing as much as a small flat, yet not legally usable as
a dwelling, the beach hut holds modest comfort for leisure activity, in the great demand, and
becoming almost a second-home for some owners.
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