smoke 3: global burning - 2006 (top image)
Calendar cards (limited edition - 50 signed) / unlimited edition - 250 unsigned)
A commemorative piece for the people of Galicia

On the same day I arrived in Galicia for my summer holiday, over 100 fires had been intentionally started in the forest. During my time there, the fires went up to the count of 360, devastating large areas of what is known as one of the most exuberant and rich forests in southern Europe.The days I spend there were marked by this environmental disaster, and framed by the ever-present smoke from the nearby active fires. People’s spirits were low, and all conversation centred in debating the logic and causes for such a disaster. As you travelled by sea from village to village, the smoke clouded visibility of the shores, and obscured the sun. Ashes flying in the breeze fell onto people’s heads, and the smell of burning permeated clothes and interiors.

I decided to make a small work, preserving the image of the Bay of Vigo filled by the smoke from the surrounding fires. I handed these cards out to people I knew or met in the street, as a souvenir or memorial of the tragedy, and they shared with me their personal opinion on the reasons behind the tragedy.

The fires are usually started by people seeking quick profit from selling environmentally protected land to developers, forest guards who had lost their jobs seeking revenge, and landowners wanting to benefit from government funding for reforestation. The fires spread quickly because climate change has significantly reduced the rainfall in the region, drying the forest under-bush and thus helping fires spread more quickly.Over the last 20 years large scale road works have altered the native forest, cutting through it to open quick ways of travel between cities and villages. There is very limited public transport throughout the region and most households have a car per adult. I had arrived there by a cheap charter flight recently introduced to boost the tourist industry, making me also part of this story of greed, neglect for nature and individualism in which there are few innocents.


smoke 2: a cloud of smoke - 2000 (middle image)

24 Frames of Separation
Brixton Hill

I was invited to create a 5 minutes-long performance as a contribution to a video show that used a picture frame shop as the backdrod. I invited people to come and join me for a smoke. I hoped to create a little space for relaxation on the street pavement, and perhaps a little cloud of smoke. This was the first performance of the video show, and it incidentally acted as a 'private view' or 'opening' for the other video performances, with a group of art types chatting to each other and smoking under the overwhelming ART banner.


smoke 1: ALBION INFERNO - 2000 (bottom image)
SQAL/LP systems questioning art life / live practice
Fishing Museum and Brighton University

A journey of conversations with the people of Brighton, exploring the collective memory of the day The Royal Albion Hotel burnt to the ground. The emerging story of this architectonic landmark - an intrigue of business interest, redevelopers and listed heritage - culminated with a public performance in the beach in which I recreated the vision of a city full of smoke using a theatre smoke machine to jettison smoke clouds into the sea breeze.