On Thursday I braved the Ashford one-way system to view Ben Barton and Jennifer Harris' PROSPECT art installation, and I'm so glad that I did. Knowing that some members of this group will be unable to get to Ashford I thought that I would provide a brief impression.

Jennifer's photographs are superb. There are, if I counted correctly (which I probably didn't!) thirty four in all: some in colour, some in black and white, and in various sizes and styles. Those who have visited Ben's PROSPECT website will be familar with some of the black and white ones, but - with all due respect to the website - they really have to be seen full-size to be properly appreciated. All are remarkable, but I particularly liked: a small grouping of items from Derek's garden; some great shots of the Dungeness 'pyramid'; and a large black and white of some people sitting outside a caravan which, as Ben's sharply-observed accompanying poem suggests, looks for all the world as if it were taken on some trailer site in America's Deep South rather than Dungeness.

And that takes me on to Ben's haunting poetry. Photocopies of his poems are available around the gallery to be picked up and read whilst you view the photos, and also, he kindly suggests, to take home (which I did). I love poetry, and Ben's poems resonate with me perfectly. If he publishes these in a book I will be first in the queue at the bookshop. Again, you can find one complete poem and a couple of slivers from another - this beach - on his website, but I hope he decides to put them all online as they deserve to be very widely appreciated.

All in all, Jennifer and Ben's PROSPECT installation is a wondrous evocation of Dungeness (a place I know reasonably well and visit at least once a year) and I only hope that if, when the power station is decommissioned, it's transformed into an arts centre (an idea I've heard bandied around) that PROSPECT is given pride of place there.

 

Review by Laurie
www.slowmotionangel.com