Gardez L’Eau

Gardez L’Eau explores the history of God’s House Tower (GHT), one of Southampton’s most important monuments. The exhibition draws on themes of trade, travel, colonialism and piracy; and uses materials from GHT’s past to create a site-specific immersive installation that runs through the entirety of the building. Beginning on GHT’s roof, the knitted sculpture is made from three main materials; raw wool roving, rope and steel wire, each one significant to the building’s history, first as King Edward’s storehouse and fort and second as a prison. The installation which ran from the roof of the building through its Contemporary and Crawford galleries, was brought to life with a soundscape created by Anihma and a live performance that took place during the opening reception. An interpretation of the performance was transformed to film and made viewable in The Barker Mill Project Space.

Gardez L’Eau was presented as part of Meeting Point, a national programme led by contemporary arts agency Arts&Heritage (www.artsandheritage.org.uk) that partners leading UK and international artists with museums and heritage sites to produce new artworks inspired by the museums and their collections.