24 Co-ordinates, 2024 in collaboration with Colin Fish, Tim Wardle, Adam Brayshaw, Brian Dixon, Roxana Holroyd, Dave Taylor, John Bouskill and Anthony Emmess.
Specifications
Painting with torches using cyanotype on canvas.
Size: 182 x 140 cm (framed using stretcher bar)
Description
24 co-ordinates is a two-year project that emerged from conversations with security staff and porters, who expressed feeling lonely and invisible in their roles. The piece invited 34 staff members to collaboratively create an artwork using their own working tools—specifically, their torches. We employed cyanotype, a photographic technique that uses light to register traces on treated surfaces. Each participants took turns using their torches, gradually forming a constellation-like pattern reminiscent of their patrol routes. The emerging shape initially spelt out ‘WE,’ which also reads as ‘ME,’ highlighting the interplay between individual effort and collective impact. By moving their torches between 24 points on the canvas—symbolising the continuous 24-hour surveillance they maintain—they mapped out the space, reflecting their routine monitoring of physical environments. While security work often becomes highly visible during emergencies, the everyday labour and the individuals performing it—many of whom are outsourced and migrant workers—remain largely unseen.