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Brexit phone booth to be installed outside the Pilot Inn, Dungeness, on Romney Marsh

Remainers and Brexiteers alike are being given the opportunity to say goodbye to the European Union next month as part of an art project on Romney Marsh.

A sculpture of BT-style phone box is set to be installed on the coast at Dungeness, Romney Marsh tomorrow.

The project, called '+44 Leave a message for Europe', is an interactive digital installation, lasting 28 days in the run up to Brexit from Friday, March 1.

The Pilot at Dungeness. Credit: Google Maps (4964405)
The Pilot at Dungeness. Credit: Google Maps (4964405)

During the project, the public are invited to visit the sculpture in Dungeness outside the Pilot Inn, and call into leaveamessage4europe.com.

People from the UK, Europe and beyond are invited to leave their own message, sharing their feelings about Brexit without interruption or judgement, and to listen to others' recordings too.

These will then go on to create a permanent digital archive representing public opinion at this moment in history.

It's hoped the project, by artist Joe Sweeney, will showcase the public's hopes and fears about the situation that lies ahead.

The artist said: "The human voice is the most powerful form of communication, in which tonality is key.

"By recording messages for Europe, I want to capture the humanity of the general public, and the voices that I feel have been lost to the debate surrounding Brexit.

"I believe this archive has an important role to play in our understanding of this moment as we experience it now, and when looking back in the future."

Alongside the digital archive, the sculpture on the beach is designed to act as a beacon and encourage public participation.

Inspired by a 1990s phone box, Mr Sweeney believes its location is significant, as the UK’s most south-easterly point and located in Britain’s only desert.

CGI of the Brexit phone booth. Credit: Cob Gallery (7414344)
CGI of the Brexit phone booth. Credit: Cob Gallery (7414344)

Mr Sweeney added: “By installing a familiar object – a phone box – and displacing at the ‘end of the world’, I hope to create a physical and poetic metaphor for the current, confused and uncertain, climate.

"Dungeness itself is a place in fragile equilibrium - industrial and wild creating an oxymoronic harmony that, in many ways, stands as the perfect prism through which to view the modern ages.”

While it is installed, the sculpture will be exposed to natural elements that will cause the untreated metallic components to naturally age and rust as a physical record of its environment.

The B17 memorial at The Pilot Inn, Dungeness (7414235)
The B17 memorial at The Pilot Inn, Dungeness (7414235)

Messages can only be left by visiting the website www.leaveamessage4europe.com, which can be done while stood in front of the sculpture.

It is hoped by making the facility digital and 24/7, it can be accessible anywhere with a mobile or WiFi connection, and visitors won't have to rely on weather, timezones or site opening times. The number is also free to call.

The project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and in partnership with Cob Gallery.

A live stream of the sculpture will also be broadcast during March.

The audio archive will become part of a time-based media piece, documenting the 28 day-long project, which will be exhibited with Cob Gallery in London later this year.

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