An artist will take up residence in a solar-powered floating egg on the River Beaulieu in Hampshire to highlight the impact of climate change.
Artist Stephen Turner, who specialises in long-term artistic explorations of environmental settings, will make the solar-powered egg his studio for a year in order to observe the ‘changing patterns of its marine ecology’ while making artworks inspired by his surroundings.
The project has been in development for three years and is the result of collaboration between key partners from the renewable energy, architecture, art, engineering and design fields. Reading-based solar developer, Anesco, has donated the solar panels that will power the egg-shaped studio. CEO Adrian Pike commented: “We are delighted to back the Exbury Egg project, which promises to provide a unique insight into the changing river environment.
“As an energy efficiency company we are dedicated to helping organisations and individuals to reduce their carbon emissions and to support the local communities in which we operate.”
Stephen Turner added: “Climate change is already creating new shorelines and habitats. Established salt marsh is being eroded by a combination of rising sea levels and falling landmass and the entire littoral environment is in a state of flux.
“The implications for wildlife and for the flora as well as for people are challenging. Raising awareness of the past and the unfolding present of a very special location will be the task, whist living in an ethical relationship with nature and treading as lightly as possible upon the land.”