“As all great art should, this exciting project is set to challenge perceptions and make us reconsider our preconceptions,” explained Councillor Jeremy Lucas, the council’s Cabinet Member for Heritage, Culture and the Arts.
“It is exactly the kind of initiative that Essex County Council’s year of culture is all about and I look forward to seeing it develop.”
Drawing on the ancient Greek concept of ‘arcadia’ as an idyllic vision of the wilderness, a natural utopia, Arcadia Revisited attempts to look at this vision, which led to the creation of many holiday communities by the sea.
As part of his exploration of what makes ‘a place’, international artist David Cotterrell is using the technologies used in fight simulators and gaming technology to develop an interactive digital map of Jaywick.
Visitors can add their views, memories, photos, and voices to the map, essentially creating a new resource that shows the complexities and characteristics of what makes ‘a place’, creating a living archive for all to use.
Alex Murdin, based on the Devon coast, has created another tongue-in-cheek project called, Jaywick Tourist Board: Jaywick Wicked!
Hosted on a new website www.jaywicked.org, it is also designed to engage with the public and encourage people to promote their favourite sites.
A series of audio and written tours, in which the residents of Jaywick can also add their own tours, also feature.
The interactive exhibition featuring the digital map and Jaywick Tourism Board will remain in Jaywick Martello Tower until December 14 2008.
