3RDFLOOR318 – March 2008
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Funded by Arts Council England, the project embraced both an
extensive archival research and a celebration of cultural diversity
in the local community (past and present). It was realised via an
audio visual projection (manifestation), of the temporal trajectory
taken by the historic Royal Pavilion Hotel, onto the fabric of its
contemporary metamorphosis, The Grand Burstin Hotel.
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Built in 1843 only a fragment of Folkestone’s Royal Pavilion Hotel
survives. It is attached to, and now forms part of, the Grand
Burstin Hotel. Through a deliberate act of remembrance the artist
has attempted to transform this site of history into a site of
memory.
  
3RD FLOOR 318 focuses upon what was once one of Folkestone’s
grandest hotels, of which, (like much of Folkestone’s recent and
distant past) only fragmentary evidence remains. The majority of
local people are unaware of the Royal Pavilion Hotel and, more
generally, of Folkestone’s significant past. The dialogues that took
place in the projection are, on one level, a sharing of lost
information but, more importantly, an opportunity for personal
reflection on the relationship between past, present and future.
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Historical artefacts and extensive
research were melded with up-to-date comments and photographs, forming a
cohesive, challenging and informing art work. Members of the public, current
hotel guests and local school children had the opportunity to be physically
involved and consequently part of this ambitious contemporary art work.
