Located between a pair of groynes on the beach near the Horsebridge slipway, XAP will be working with the sea for the first time.

The tide is out, but on the turn, when a number of women, dressed in the mixed, muted colours of their environment, arrive on the shingle beach.

Mindful of the tide, they begin their work, which centres around a stake planted in the shingle. With intense concentration, they work together in smooth and implicit synchronisation, using reels of nylon cord. A low murmuring emanates from the women as they work, changing subtly in pitch and rhythm as the activity wears on. This background noise has an organic shape and texture, as if articulating their immediate environment: the approaching tide, the changing light levels, the intervention of sea birds in the airspace.

High tide approaches, yet the women remain resolutely at their work, despite the water lapping at their ankles, now at their knees. Their purpose is becoming clearer; but will they be defeated by the tide?