June 2005

Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich
Maldon District
31 July - 24 August 2004

How the Universe Sang itself into Being
Zoë Walker and Neil Bromwich explored the stunning coastline along the River Blackwater estuary, between the Bradwell Nuclear Power Station and St Peter's on the Wall Chapel.They were captivated by the light and atmosphere of the area, along with notions of power and spirituality that are evoked by the power station and the chapel.

During the summer of 2004 Walker and Bromwich launched an independent radio station 'Celestial Radio', which was broadcast for a 25 day period from a mirrored boat moored in the estuary. The broadcast echoed 'Radio Caroline', a pirate radio station that broadcasted off the Essex Coast in the 1960s and 1970s. Interviews with local people and visitors to the area, together with music and ambient sound recordings, formed the programme's content.

Audiences who came to view the work were invited to walk along the estuary and listen to the broadcast through FM walkmans. The events and installation were documented photographically for use in later exhibitions.

Artists' Statement
Standing on a little known shoreline on the edge of the Dengie Peninsular in Essex stands two relics of an ancient civilization. One a simple stone chapel from the Celtic period, the other a nuclear power station from the 20th century. Both look out to sea.

Somewhere out there lies the wreck of the pirate radio station Radio Caroline,legendary Prog Rock station of the 1970s. On its final broadcast during a violent storm, DJs and crew ran for the life boats telling listeners they would 'try to keep broadcasting somehow for as long as humanly possible' and promised 'the answers to Loving Awareness were still out there somewhere. Just keep listening. At that point the old rusting hulk began to break-up under the weight of a force 10 gale and 'Stairway to Heaven'.

Mysteriously, this final hair-raising broadcast became somehow trapped in time and would strangely reappear across the airwaves during the next 30 years. Oddly, the last broadcast seemed to take on a life of its own. The major questions of where do we all come from, what does God look like and how big is the universe, now seem to be revealing answers, interspersed with original album tracks from Deep Purple, the Doors and Fleetwood Mac.

During an unusually high spring tide early this year a strange small glistening sailing boat appeared just off the Dengie Peninsular. On closer inspection the boat seemed to resemble a mirror ball, making it semi invisible in certain lights.It is from this boat that the mysterious broadcast was emanating.