The project Tilbury to Harwich took on new mean with the UK government delivering the letter to the European Union that triggered Article 50 as it changed the role of the Essex coast to return to it’s original role as a border with Europe. The creeks along the coast made it a popular place to land contraband as they looked to avoid customs officials and the paying of duty on goods. The departure from the European Union will change the role of the coast.
I wanted to find a way to introduce the letter triggering Article 50 into the exhibition while making it uniquely relevant to to Essex. Shipping has needed to communicate for centuries initially it was using Line of Sight communication with flags. This was then evolved with the use of signalling lamps and morse code which still required line of sight.
This changed at the start of 20th century with the radio pioneered by inventors such as Marconi. Marconi setup his company in Chelmsford and was responsible for the first transatlantic radio communication in the 12th December 1901 from Cornwall to Newfoundland. When reading my first degree in Electrical Engineering I was sponsored by Marconi Communications and I have decided to return to my own history to introduce this aspect into my project.
I translated the whole of the Article 50 letter into Morse to create an audio clip that could be played in the gallery space as an audio announcement of an intention to depart.
The preview clip is the first 1 minute of the complete transmission.
The PDF below is the Letter from the Prime Minister to the European Council that triggered the departure process from the European Union.
Prime_Ministers_letter_to_European_Council_President_Donald_Tusk-1
