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Spencer Finch

Spencer Finch

The Colour of Water, 2011

Like a French Impressionist painter on a day visit from Boulogne, American artist Spencer Finch observed the ever-changing tone and colour of the Channel during his visits to Folkestone over several weeks throughout 2010. His observations led him to produce a palette of 100 variants of the colour of the sea, which was used to dye 100 flags.

Each morning during the 2011 Triennial, one of these sea-coloured flags was chosen and hoisted at midday. The choice of flag was determined daily by matching its colour with that of the sea using Finch’s large colour wheel, installed on the cliff-top path just below the main Leas Promenade, towards its western end.

Although the flags are no longer flown, the wheel for determining The Colour Of Water remains, available to everyone who would like to look through the aperture and match the colour of the sea to one of the series of samples.

Audio guide

Spencer Finch The Colour of Water, 2011. Photo by Thierry Bal.

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