Looking Out to Sea is made up of two layers of chains suspended on clear line from the ceiling of the main exhibition space in Varberg Museum, Sweden. The museum building is a former twelfth century fortress by the sea. The lengths of chain form the shape of one of the fortress’ windows and are positioned in front of a windowless wall that faces out to sea. The free hanging chains move with the circulation of air created by a fan that is positioned nearby. As they knock against each other they create an illusion of vertical waves rippling from right to left. When the evening sunlight shines through the existing windows the light hits the chains and, similar to a sunset over water, the silver chains turn to a shimmering gold. This work was shown as part of a group exhibition, Soundings, of eight artists from Scotland in 1996. Looking Out to Sea is now in the museum’s collection.
