Orfordness

The ex-military test and research site at Orfordness on the Suffolk coast is an ongoing point of reference in my work . The combination of the wide-open landscape interspersed with an assortment of intriguingly shaped buildings and the footprints of structures long gone has resulted in a unique and fascinating mix of natural and man-made forms.

View across to the A.W.R.E site

Nic Pehkonen, Lab4a, 2009, Emulsion on unstretched canvas, 200cm x 60cm

For those who like their facts and figures, Orfordness is the largest vegetated shingle spit in Europe (approx 2000 acres in size and 10 miles long) and is also home to a lighthouse but it is more popularly associated with the history and architectural legacy of its military past.

Brick building with Orfordness lighthouse in the background

Land at Orfordness was purchased by the War Department just before the Fist World War and evolved over the years as a classified research and test site. Experiments were carried out on ballistics, camouflage, aircraft weapons lethality and vulnerability and also aerial photography. 

Bomb Ballistics Building

Orfordness also played it's part in the early pioneering development of radar and from the 1950s it played host to the Atomic Weapons and Research Establishment (AWRE) where a variety of unique buildings (laboratories) were constructed to perform tests on the (non-fissile) components of nuclear bombs. These buildings are arguably the most visually striking structures on the site with their unique, concrete forms decaying slowly in the surrounding shingle landscape.

Lab 4

Lab 4 roof

Nic Pehkonen, Lab4c, 2010, Emulsion on unstretched canvas, 200cm x 60cm

Inside one of the Test Laboratories

Nic Pehkonen, Inside Lab4, 2010, Emulsion on unstretched canvas, 183cm x 183cm

During the Cold War another part of the Orfordness site was developed in a collaborative effort between the US and UK governments to construct  a huge and massively powerful "Over-the-Horizon" radar designed to monitor military activity beyond the Iron Curtain. This project was codenamed "Cobra Mist" and although construction was completed (at enormous cost), it never worked properly and following a series of trials which failed to eliminate persistent background noise, the project was abandoned in early 1973.

Lab 1

Nic Pehkonen, Duct Pipe, 2009, Emulsion on canvas stretched over plywood (3 panels), 120cm x 120 cm

The AWRE site was also wound up in the early 1970s and apart from a very brief period of activity shortly after the Falklands War, Orfordness was effectively finished as a test establishment although a considerable amount of work was carried out to clear large amounts of live/unexploded ordnance left behind from decades of testing (and which is still being uncovered to this day!)

Lab 2 Blast Door

The site was eventually purchased by the National Trust in 1993 and was officially opened to the public in 1995. In my opinion the National Trust has done the right thing with the site. They have an enlightened approach and employed a zero restoration policy on most of the buildings and mercifully there is no horrible trademark shop or tearoom - just a very basic lavatory block in the way of facilities.

Lavatory Block

For those who want to find out more about Orfordness, I would definitely suggest a visit in the first instance. General opening times can be found on the National Trust website and I think there are still occasional guided tours where access is allowed to parts of the site not normally accessible to the general visitor. 

The Black Beacon - one of very few restored structures on the site.

I would also strongly recommend one of the very few books written about Orfordness. "Most Secret - The Hidden History of Orfordness" is by Paddy Heazell and published by The History Press in association with the National Trust.  Despite the fact that a lot of the work on Orfordness was secret he has nevertheless carried out a great deal of research and succeeded in putting together a fascinating history of the place, based on available information.
  

Bunker

Nic Pehkonen, Green Bunker, 2011
Household emulsion paint on unstretched canvas hung on 4 x tarpaulin clips
Widest dimensions - width 224cm x height 180cm

This is another painting in my ongoing series of works relating to Military architecture. It has two vertical folds which allowed me to create both triangular and rectangular forms within the overall composition. 

Here is a close up view of the surface which shows some of the paint effects I achieved by letting the painting dry face down and then peeling it off the studio floor.

Green Bunker (Detail)

 

First Post

Nic Pehkonen, Brown Bunker, 2010

Household emulsion paint on unstretched canvas hung off 4 x tarpaulin clips

Widest dimensions 224cm x 180cm

This painting is one of an ongoing series of works that has evolved from a growing interest in military architecture, associated in particular with the Cold War. This includes a whole array of (aesthetically) weird and wonderful structures such as bunkers, missile sites, airfields, hangars, control towers, and radar installations, all usually involving a lot of concrete and metal.

More often than not I find I am especially drawn to buildings and places in a state of decay, either brought about through abandonment or just general wear and tear. There is something about this combination that has a powerful visual appeal. My intention as an artist is not to produce accurate or literal representations of buildings but works that are more suggestive of places or architectural forms and the effects of constant exposure to the elements, human intervention and the passage of time.

I prefer to work on unstretched canvas as this allows me the freedom to cut the painting to shape (either before, during or after the painting process). In this way the canvas becomes fully integral to the piece as a whole and not just an inert surface onto which an image is described. I suppose in some ways the finished piece is as much a three dimensional object as it is a painting.

Working with unstretched canvas also allows me to exploit the physical properties of the material as part of the painting process. Shrinkage and slight changing of shape is an interesting by-product of this. Plus I can work with the canvas on the floor. This gives me the option of folding the painting over on itself. By doing this when the paint is wet I can delineate areas without physically painting edges which I think can give a greater sense of both depth and solidity to the overall composition. I can also turn the canvas over, allowing it to dry face down before peeling it off the floor. These various techniques, combined with the cumulative build up of successive paint layers, often yield intricate and interesting patterns and textures.

See more of my work


Here is a detail of the above painting.