This project was a part of Surrey Unearthed, a programme of ten linked projects exploring the natural materials of the Surrey landscape.

Fossil Ocean Floor was a large-scale text installation in farmland adjacent to the Great Western Railway near Dorking, Surrey. The work was on view from 7 June - 8 October and could be seen from the carriage road at Ranmore Common, the footpath across Milton Court Farm and from the Great Western Railway on the route from Reading to Gatwick that passes through Dorking West. A map of the location can be found here. The work was a response to the chalk hills surrounding its location. Chalk is composed of microscopic disc-shaped coccoliths; the fossilized remains of plankton from an ancient seabed. These were represented by the floating dots of the text. ‘Lamina’ is the word for a thin layer of sedimentary rock.

You can watch an interview with the artist here, where he explains the thoughts and processes behind the work.

Fossil Ocean Floor (2018) painted wood, 7m x 2m x 65m                                                Photography by Jonathan Miller