Are you trying to send me a message? The process of deciphering the family
Code, penned in secret by Emma’s granddad Roy till his death in 2007,
begins with Partial Breaks #1. Working with musical collaborator and
classically trained pianist Ciara Haidar, the project investigates numerical music notation as a possible cryptographic key, alongside a second line of enquiry into genetic memory. Partial Breaks #1 explores the urge to discover secrets, a desire deeply ingrained in human nature; even the least curious mind is roused by the promise of sharing knowledge withheld from others. By coincidence, Emma lives in a Margate building her father thinks he recalls being taken to as a child by Roy. He was too young to remember why.

Showing in Hantverk & Found’s Beach Hut 42, this installation is connected to a coinciding exhibition at Resort Studios in Margate. ‘Shadows’ features artists Conrad Armstrong and Emma Gibson, who will look at the shadows of their former selves, alongside shadows in society and the social history of the local area (Cliftonville/Margate), in order to engage residents both old and new. Through space, light, codes, keys and family trees, ‘Shadows’ ripples down to the root of who we really are and what lies beneath.