Jo Chapman

Boston Buoys 2021

Boston, Lincolnshire

Commissioner: Transported

Fabricator: Craven & Nicholas Ltd

Photo credit: Electric Egg

Art Uk | Flotsam

Art Uk | Lagan

The two sculptures Flotsam and Lagan re-purpose navigation buoys. They form part of a city wide sculpture trail 'The Boston Buoys' Lagan being sited at the port and Flotsam in the city centre.

The steel sculptures form a cradle of seaweed around the buoys interwoven with micro stories gathered from the local community. The stories were gathered through workshops, social media, drop boxes and consultation events. People were encouraged to share a journey that was significant to them whether physical, emotional or spiritual. Workshops were also held in a local school and care home.

The sculptures are palimpsests for this exchange of stories, the term palimpsest is also used in architecture, archaeology, and geomorphology to denote an object made or worked upon for one purpose and later reused for another. Each of the buoys is unique and has its own map in the marks, the layers of paint, the fragments of painted text and structural additions. The buoys are relics of the sea, they each have a story to tell. 

Boston has a long history of connection with the sea and other countries, as part of the Hanseatic league it traded with the Baltic was a port for many exotic goods from around the world. Contemporary Boston also has a large population of people from these same parts of Europe and is today a functioning port. The buoys are a strong symbol of the maritime heritage of Boston.