Silicon Fen

A record of a long-running visual arts project that took place at venues across the east of England between 2004 and 2007, ‘Silicon Fen’ considers how landscape in general (and the East Anglian landscape in particular) has been both affected and reflected by technology. Immersing themselves in the distinctive history and topography of the region, whose remote, almost desolate vistas belie the complex nature of its substantially man-made environment, the participating artists (Suky Best, Susan Collins, Dalziel + Scullion, Annabel Howland, Stephen Hughes and TNWK) contribute works that capture the unique character of the Fenland landscape and whose facility with digital forms of image-making brings their subject into sharper focus.

Alongside documentation and descriptions of the commissioned works, this publication further profiles the featured artists through interviews and other contextualising material. Broadening out from this immediate focus on the individual artists’ pieces, it also assembles a number of imaginative and informative texts (by Iain Sinclair, Sean Cubitt, Steven Bode and Tom Williamson) that prompt wider reflection on the geography and history of the Fens, and the future that is being mapped out in and around them.

Edited by Simon Willmoth and Steven Bode