Hastings Pier: Hastings, UK

In 2016, Chris Levine and Peter Hampel brought iY_Project to the Hastings Pier coastline for Root 1066, marking 950 years since the Battle of Hastings.

For one night, a series of high-powered lasers extended across the sea, pier and surrounding cliffs, accompanied by a soundscape created with Marco Perry and Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja. Positioned across three points along the coastline, the beams connected land and sea through shifting geometries of light, transforming the landscape into an immersive experience of sound and light.

The night was met with force-eight winds and horizontal rain, but rather than disrupting the installation, the weather became part of it, introducing an unpredictability that allowed the work to evolve in response to its environment. The rain caught the laser light as the beams shifted in the wind.

“It was extraordinary, people standing in the howling wind and rain to see what he had created – it was an almost spiritual experience, in a sphere of sound and light, a moment in time that won’t be forgotten and was truly moving.”

- Beanie Cox, Senior Advisor to Chris Levine