In May 2026, a network camera was installed at Redcar Palace looking out to sea.

The image shows an array of turbines from the offshore windfarm. At low tide a usually submerged petrified forest is occasionally revealed. This ancient woodland, which dates back over 7,000 to 8,000 years, is a surviving remnant of the vast, habitable landmass – now known as Doggerland – that once connected the east coast of Britain to mainland Europe before it was swallowed by the North Sea.

The image builds slowly, pixel by pixel, continuously from left to right, top to bottom like writing on a page. Each image takes just over six hours to complete, reflecting the timing of tidal ebbs and flows. Once complete the image writes over itself. The layering of time (ancient forest, modern turbines, tidal time) and the process of exposure and erasure embedded in each completed image.

Understory (Redcar) is part of an ongoing series of works transmitting and composing images over time from remote locations. It has been realised as part of Common Stars at Redcar Palace, curated by James Beighton and Aphra O’Connor Smith

The camera will remain in place until May 2027 and selected images from the work will be posted below and on Instagram at @susanalexislandscapes

Understory (Redcar) has been made possible with thanks to:
James Beighton and Aphra O’Connor, Redcar Palace, for inviting me to make this work
Matthew Jarvis, as always, for his creative programming

If you would like to visit in person, Common Stars is open from
3 July – 5 September 2026, 10am-4pm Tuesdays to Saturdays at
Redcar Palace
28-29 Esplanade
Redcar
TS10 3AE