Katie Paterson launches new participatory artwork that will raise awareness of the UK’s eroding coastline

Scottish artist Katie Paterson has launched a new participatory artwork that will connect the public to the ‘world’s diverse mountains ranges’ and raise awareness of the UK’s eroding coastline.

First There is a Mountain will involve participants across the UK sculpting beaches into thousands of miniature mountains of sand, using pails in the shape of five mountain ranges: Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Shasta (USA), Mount Fuji (Asia), Stromboli (Europe), and Uluru (Oceania).

The project will tour to 25 coastal art venues around the UK over the period of daylight saving time during British Summer Time, which relates to concepts around gravitational attraction and the planet’s tilted axis during longer daylight hours.

First There is a Mountain will launch at Whitstable Biennale, Kent, on Leysdown Beach, Isle of Sheppey on 31 March 2019, before touring to various venues including Tate St Ives, Cornwall (Porthmeor Beach), Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall (Porthcressa Beach, St Martins, Isles of Scilly), Grundy Art Gallery, Lancashire (Blackpool Beach) and CCA, Londonderry, Northern Ireland (Portstewart Strand).

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Explaining the project, Paterson said: “From early childhood we understand that sand marks time. First There is a Mountain builds upon this concept, making us aware of mountain rocks’ erosion over millennia, rock shifting across earth over continent’s evolution, forming unique fingerprints of sand across our modern coastline.

“The artwork invites the public to slow down and to consider the interconnectedness of the world, its immensity conveyed in miniature. Connecting the archipelago via one water, one tide, one sand – carrying mountains of sand across time. The extraordinary existing in ordinary things, everywhere.”

In addition, 25 new pieces of writing by various authors, poets, geologists, earth scientists, ecologists, and art writers have been commissioned to accompany the artwork’s evolution. The texts will creatively respond to the artwork, and will be delivered via spoken word at the start of each public event.

The project will coincide with Paterson’s largest solo exhibition so far, taking place at Turner Contemporary in Margate.

First There is a Mountain will tour to 25 coastal art venues around the UK, 31 March to 27 October 2019. The full list of venues is:

• 31 March: Whitstable Biennale, Kent (Leysdown Beach, Isle of Sheppey)
• 7 April: Tate St Ives, Cornwall (Porthmeor Beach)
• 14 April: Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall (Porthcressa Beach, St Martins, Isles of Scilly)
• 5 May: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea (Swansea Bay)

• 12 May: Quay Arts and Eccleston George, Isle of Wight (Sandown Bay)

• 19 May: MOSTYN, Llandudno (West Shore Beach)

• 2 June: Grundy Art Gallery, Lancashire (Blackpool Beach)

• 9 June: CCA, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in partnership with the National Trust (Portstewart Strand)
• 16 June: The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (Portobello Beach)

• 23 June: Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen (Aberdeen Beach)

• 30 June: Pier Arts Centre, Orkney (Waulkmill Bay)

• 7 July: An Lanntair, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis (Coll Beach)

• 14 July: Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre, North Uist (Baleshare Beach)

• 21 July: Atlas Arts, Isle of Skye (Glen Brittle Beach)

• 28 July: Comar, Isle of Mull (Calgary Beach)

• 4 August: Berwick Visual Arts, Northumberland, in partnership with the National Trust (Seahouses Beach)
• 11 August: Turner Contemporary, Kent (Margate Main Sands)

• 18 August: NGCA, Sunderland (Roker Beach)

• 25 August: Scarborough Art Gallery, Yorkshire (Scarborough South Bay)

• 1 September: 20-21Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe (Cleethorpes Beach)

• 8 September: Customs House, South Shields (Little Haven Beach)

• 15 September: The National Trust at Studland Bay, Dorset (Studland Bay)
• 22 September: Tide & Time Museum, Norwich (Great Yarmouth Beach)
• 6 October: The Atkinson, Merseyside, in partnership with the National Trust (Formby Beach)
• 27 October: Focal Point Gallery, Essex (Three Shells Beach)

For more information visit: www.katiepaterson.org
Images:
1. Katie Paterson, First There is a Mountain, 2019. Image © Katie Paterson, First There is a Mountain is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and Arts Council England
2. Katie Paterson, First There is a Mountain, 2019. Image © MJC. First There is a Mountain is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and Arts Council England

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