Sun sets on Britain and Empire
From staff reports
Nearly 4,000 miles and five time zones, different cultures and histories separate England from Northern Michigan. But Julie Mecoli found a way to connect them.
Mecoli’s project, “Empire Sunset”, involves showing a live webcam image of the view over Lake Michigan from Empire on screens at two venues in England. The five-hour time difference means that sunsets in Empire happen after 2 a.m., Greenwich Mean Time. The project was part of the Whitstable Biennale (which ended this spring) but continued through June as part of an exhibition in the Kent School of Architecture at the University of Kent, Canterbury.
“Empire Sunset” received rave reviews at the University of Kent.
“It’s wonderful. Fantastic,” said Jan Loveless of Canterbury. “I love it. I went along with a friend the other night late. It was dark and the sun was shining brightly over Empire Beach.“
“I thought it was a loop to help students to remain calm during exam time,” joked Emma Harris, who works for Campus Watch Security at the University of Kent.
Others used the Empire Sunset as an opportunity to hook up. “After we’re out for an evening, I’ll ask my special friend if she wants to watch the sunset,” said Julien Soosaipillai. “It’s in the middle of the night here and I’ll walk her around to the Marlowe building and there will be this beautiful sunset. How romantic!”
Mecoli hails from Michigan, but now lives and works in Canterbury. She spent summers from 1999-2012 working at Interlochen Center for the Arts and enjoying the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Empire. Mecoli was also an artist in residence at Sleeping Bear in 2003.
Beryl and Frank Skrocki of Sleeping Bear Surf and Kayak in Empire generously allowed Mecoli to use a live feed from their “wavecam” for the project. A screen showed sunsets in real time from Empire, every day for the duration of the Whitstable Biennale.
Mecoli writes that East Kent, in the southeast corner of England, is described by artist J.W.M. Turner as having skies that “… are the loveliest in all Europe …” and are still enjoyed by people living there. For centuries the British Empire was one on which “the sun never sets”. The 20th century saw its fall and the rise of the American “em¬pire”. In the 21st century, writes Mecoli, America follows the British Empire in decline.
The five-hour time difference means that each sunset over Lake Michigan will come on the screen in England in the early hours of the morning. The view from Empire appears and disappears until the end of the Biennale when the last sun sets and the screen fades to black.
“Empire Sunset” serves as a reflection on our times where change is constant, cer¬tainty is transient, empires rise and fall whilst nature remains compelling, fragile, yet enduring, writes Mecoli.
