Darlinghurst Playground Songs, 2013. Commissioned by Metal, Southend-on-Sea for On the Line, a project about the history of the Thames Estuary.
A2 digital print, songs.

Working with composer and musician Dicky Moore, we co-produced four playground songs with 60 children in Year 2 at Darlinghurst Primary School, Essex. We took the children on a trip to the local lifeguard station in Shoeburyness, and through a series of workshops, turned their compositions into four songs, based on the Thames Estuary's military and security history, including the SS Richard Montgomery, and the Mulberry Harbour.

I then drew four broadsides for the school and exhibition.

We were interested to see whether it’s possible to ‘synthetically’ develop a local lore. E.g. would these playground songs enter the general consciousness of pupils down the generations who attended Darlinghurst, or would they just disappear once Year 2 moved onto secondary school?