Bodies of Water is a site-specific public art project by Anne Duk Hee Jordan, curated and produced by leading public art organisation UP Projects, which will unfold across two locations in England: A la Ronde in Exmouth, East Devon, and Haigh Hall in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 2025.

Bodies of Water is Jordan’s first UK public art commission, which sees the artist confronting the politics of water through an ecological lens. The project is a continuation of Jordan’s longstanding interest in environmental processes and ecosystems, having conducted many undersea diving excursions and scientific exchanges with marine biologists, toxicologists, ecologists, and geologists to inform their previous artworks.

Bodies of Water presents two unique public art installations that explore the politics of water, drawing from the history of each site, specialist knowledge from scientists, researchers and conservation specialists, and insights of communities in both locations.

Credit: Simon Tutty

Barnacles often serve as bioindicators of water quality in coastal ecosystems and symbolise resilience and adaptability for their ability to cling steadfastly to sea surfaces despite the constant flow of waves. These barnacles have been fabricated by Bristol based Plenderleith Scantlebury, from roman concrete mixed with biochar (an organic version of activated charcoal often used for water filtration) created from plant cuttings from the gardens at A la Ronde. The biochar is made by Flete Field Lab, a locally based collective developing nature-based remedies for soil and water issues. In addition to the biochar, the concrete will be mixed with shells, the mineral zeolite, a composite of aluminium and silica molecules that serves as a water purifying agent, and iron oxide that can be used in wastewater treatment to remove heavy metals. The sculpture will symbolise the power of natural materials to filter and purify water as well as encourage birds and insects to use the water collected and filtered by the barnacle forms.

Situated on the seafront of the Jurassic Coast, A la Ronde has a unique history and architecture, built in 1796 by the second cousins Jane & Mary Parminter, who filled the home with mementoes collected on their Grand Tour. They decorated the house with hand-crafted elements of shells, feathers, and paper. The crushed shells in the concrete of the barnacles in Jordan’s sculpture respond to the house’s distinct design features including the Shell Gallery. The locally sourced fossils incised in the barnacles and slate stones make reference to the prehistoric Jurassic Coast. The origins of the fossils include Parkinsonia, a 158 million year old/inferior Oolite from Dorset; Belemnite cylindroteuthis which is 160 million years old/Oxford Clay from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire; Amoeboceras a 160 million years old/Ampthill clay from Bedfordshire; Arnioceras Ammonite a 195 million years old/ lower lias obtusum zone from Charmouth, Dorset; and additional ammonites from Somerset.

The alternative water filtration system of I travelled 66 million years to be with you and then you came draws on the Victorian history of the site. A central heating system was established in 1904 by Oswald Reichel that installed two underground brick tanks, which could hold 300,000 litres of rainwater. Today, the water storage tanks are used by the garden team for irrigation. These tanks have enabled the property to be fully independent of mains water since 2023.

Credit: Mark McNulty

The sculpture comprises a structure fabricated in fiberglass, steel and steel mesh that evokes the form of a chimera (a mythological creature made up of multiple animal parts) of gastropods (slugs and snails) and mythological elements (snake tongues). Sitting astride the main creature is a fantastical “Popo Goddess”, composed of a chicken and a crab, who represents the goddess and protector of all bodies of water. The snake tongues refer to the mythology of Medusa, who Jordan reveres as another protector of women and the sea. Flowing down from the chimera into a newly created wildlife pond are multiple rain chains that will direct rainwater into the pond. The pond is surrounded by a natural “stumpery” and insect hotels in stoneware and clay by Anna FC Smith and the Community Ambassadors that will create habitats for insects and amphibians, such as newts and frogs.

The pond surround includes sensory planting that will tolerate moisture such as geranium, shuttlecock ferns, primula, ragged robin, meadowsweet, bottlebrush etc. This is to provide a rich surround of herbaceous planting and foliage for all year interest such as ferns. Shelving includes plants that are used to being submerged in shallow water such as arrowroot, rushes; this is to soften the edges into the water and frame the art piece. Submerged aquatic oxygenating plants such as Hornwort and starwort, and plants with floating leaves such as water buttercup, starwort and water lilies. These will help keep the water clear and will appear around the edges of the rain chains and go underneath these.

The hybrid invertebrate creature continues a line of enquiry explored by Jordan for many years, where they have researched the changing sexuality within marine invertebrates and gastropods through the artistic exploration of “sex ecologies” to highlight the exuberant sexual possibilities and survival strategies of the more-than-human world.

The steel mesh structure attracts water particles in the air akin to the process of fog harvesting (using a fine mesh to attract fog droplets, which then condense and drain into a body of water). The water particles are channeled down through the rain chains, and the collected rainwater in the new pond will flow through an underground pipe to an existing natural pond adjacent to the walled garden. The creation of the new pond will contribute to the newly established stormwater drainage and support flood management within the gardens at Haigh Hall. By introducing plant life in the pond and establishing habitats for insects and other wildlife, Snail on me also promotes biodiversity and strengthens the natural ecosystem of Haigh Woodland Park.

To inform the development of Bodies of Water, a Community Collaboration Programme took place during 2024 at A la Ronde, Exmouth and Haigh Hall, Wigan. Wigan-based multimedia artist, Anna FC Smith led a series of co-created workshops at Haigh Hall, with a group of local community ambassadors, who represent local organisations or community groups. The group drew key insights and themes from Jordan’s developing artwork, and used the workshops as a space to collectively devise a series of public activities and events took place at Haigh Hall on the 13th September 2025. Insights from the community ambassadors gathered during the workshops were also incorporated into Jordan’s artwork designs and the visual identity of the project.

Devon-based outdoor education specialist and Forest School expert, Richard Irvine, led workshops for children and young people at A la Ronde, Exmouth. Pupils from Exeter Road Primary School took part, as well as local visitors, families and children from the Ukrainian Refugees East Devon. The workshops invited the young people to use natural materials from the site at A la Ronde to collectively build a large water filtration vessel, exploring where our water comes from, how we make it safe to drink and what its importance in our everyday lives is.