Commissioned by Cheshire West and Chester Council
Shown at Chester Cathedral from 9th to 12th March 2022
Once A Desert is a large-scale video, sound and light installation created especially for Chester Cathedral. The origins of Chester Cathedral date as far back as 1092 when it was founded as a Benedictine Abbey, built on a bedrock of red sandstone. During that time the waters of the River Dee extended over the Roodee, now the site of Chester’s Racecourse, and boats could sail up the River Dee right into the city.
This red sandstone, sourced from the city’s quarries was used to gradually rebuild the Cathedral up until the Victorian period when a different red sandstone was used, sourced from quarries in the Wirral and Liverpool. The title of the work alludes to the period of time when this stone was formed, during the Triassic period over 200 million years ago. This was a time when the earth’s climate was mostly hot and dry, with deserts spanning much of the interior of Pangaea, the huge land mass from which our present-day continents split.
As we face the challenges of global climate change, Once a Desert is a reflection upon the permeability and impermanence of material within the context of the cathedral and deeper time.
Once a Desert is part of the Refresh cultural recovery programme for Chester, designed to bring high-quality arts and cultural activities back to the city. The Refresh cultural recovery programme is funded by Arts Council England and by the Government’s Additional Restrictions Grant to Cheshire West and Chester Council.
With thanks to OR3D for undertaking the 3D Lidar scans and Chester Cathedral for their assistance in the development of this commission.
Creative Producers: The Hamilton Project, AV Technical Support: dBS Solutions.
Link here to see further images of the installation and here for review of the work.
