Two Seas : High Water is a film of the two seas that define the east and west coasts of Britain: the North Sea and the Irish Sea. The footage was shot at Filey on the east coast and Hilbre Island on the west coast, these locations evoking ideas of departure and homecoming for the artists. The film was projected onto the High Altar of the Metropolitan Cathedral, in a continuous loop that ran throughout the cathedral’s opening hours. Both seas were filmed at high tide and presented distinctly different characteristics. With no visual reference with which to locate the work, the film simply offered the audience the opportunity to watch the changing movement of the seas and to meditate upon their personal thoughts. less

Ring of Roses : Paper Falls on Stone was Holland and Poulton’s response to a commission by Liverpool Hope University for ‘The Big Hope’ International Youth Congress, the opening and closing ceremonies of which took place at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Liverpool Cathedral respectively.

The artists devised a participatory artwork involving three distinct communities: delegates of the Youth Congress, members of The League of Welldoers (a group of elders based in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool) and students from the Rotunda Community College. Together they made ten thousand paper petals and over three hundred paper flowers, which they used in processional and interventional events at the two cathedrals. less

Three Vessels : Love’s Labours was made specifically for the Unity Chapel of the Metropolitan Cathedral and reconfigured for the South Choir Aisle of Liverpool Cathedral. The work comprises three steel frames at the bottom of which sit three shallow vessels, each one metre in diameter. Projected into the vessels are films depicting the conducting of sacred music, candles burning and being lit, and the polishing of sacristy vessels – three actions connecting external manual activity with internal spiritual thought. less

Heartsounds was a performed work, made in collaboration with composer Robin Hartwell. Ten short audio recordings of the sounds of a human heart – that of Poulton’s mother, Elsie Price – were developed into a musical score of ten canticles for an unaccompanied, solo female voice. The work was performed live from Liverpool Cathedral’s Corona Gallery at 11am each day, from 18 September to 18 October 2008. The words of the ten canticles are a combination of a prayer written by Elsie Price and a eulogy written for her by Holland. Soprano: Julia Smith. less

Upon This Rock is a commissioned piece of writing by Chris Lethbridge, inspired by the collaborative works of Holland and Poulton.

Chris is a visual artist with an interest in medieval church architecture. His writing is evocative and descriptive, with a strong narrative that has qualities of myth and fable. The title of the work simultaneously refers to the hill upon which the two cathedrals are situated and to the biblical reference, Matthew 16:18 “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.”

Upon this Rock is read by Peter Halligan. Peter is a writer and poet with a particular interest in Japanese haiku. He lives and works in Liverpool. less