A psychogeographic exploration of the detailed emergency planning zone[1] around the proposed site of Sizewell C nuclear power station
Radius is a project born of pandemic stasis. Living 8 miles away from the Sizewell reactors, with the Sizewell C project and progressive coastal erosion looming, it seemed important and urgent to spend limited lockdown outdoor time investigating a place which could change irrevocably. This small circle of land is charged with meaning from the many ideas, stories and icons it contains: encompassing the great achievements alongside the threats and consequences of the “Anthropocene”.
St. Augustine said “…and it is solved by walking”, Iris Murdoch tells us that "attention is rewarded by a knowledge of reality”. The project progressed by cycling and walking the 4km radius around the power stations. Uncovering local tales; big and small, heroic, innovative, charming and tragic developed an affinity for 15 “emblematic” sites to explore in depth.
Using the psychogeographic methodology of “standing in place”[2] created what Ana Samoylova calls a “speculative archive” over two years of returning repeatedly. Using these pictures to accrete cubist layers the objective was to avoid the picturesque and show instead the multiple narratives and complex “reality” of this magnetic area.
A biodegradable exhibit of the final panel of pictures was in place at the beach July 22nd - September 22nd 2023, to invite an ongoing conversation with the landscape, the community, visitors and the atomic site. This website also adds contextual information, background and other works made during the project.
[1] Suffolk resilience forum defines three radii for emergency planning in the event of a nuclear accident or terrorist incident:
Detailed emergency planning zone (DEPZ) 3-4km radius
Extended emergency planning zone 15km radius
Outline emergency planning zone 30km radius
[2] Psychogeography:
noun
The study of the influence of geographical environment on the mind or on behaviour
“Psychogeography is a study of how and why we mediate reality with the contents of our psyches.”
Prof. Howard F. Stein, The influence of psychogeography upon the conduct of international relations Clinical and Metapsychological Considerations
“I have also employed the technique of remaining still in the landscape and sort of letting it carry on around me”
poet Suzannah Evans, Exploring Meers Brook.
