Portsmouth park becomes stage for apocalyptic starfish performance by local artist

Public park used as backdrop for new environmental dance work

Portsmouth’s municipal park has become the setting for a striking new outdoor artwork that blends sculpture and slow, ritualised movement. The piece, titled Between Land and Tide, was conceived by Portsmouth-based artist Olana Light and is performed by a collective of five local women-movers who animate a deflated, hessian starfish form laid on the grass.

The performance deliberately locates itself on the park’s parched, drought-yellowed surface. Performers wear layered, hessian-coloured fabrics and headpieces that resemble overgrown dreadlocks, moving together to give the inert starfish a breathing, pulsing life. The work explores the strange morphology of echinoderms and the migration of marine forms into terrestrial space, creating a sense that a lost sea creature has stranded itself on the inland green.

"There is something apocalyptic in this performance and sculptural image, reminiscent of the strange visions of science fiction master John Wyndham."

The staging and movement draw on slow, tactile gestures: performers join hands, bend into obtuse, angular positions and slide into the starfish structure, where their collective motion simulates the water-pressure mechanics starfish use rather than muscular movement. At moments the group resembles a textured set of sleeping bags; at others they writhe and pulse, then split the five-limbed form and depart, dragging the arms behind them like exhausted, post-apocalyptic creatures.

How the piece connects with local space and climate

Local audiences will recognise the work’s attention to the park’s present condition. The performance emphasises the contrast between a maritime subject and an inland, sun-scorched lawn — a deliberate juxtaposition that speaks to environmental change and the shifting relationship between city residents and the coast. The staging in a municipal park also invites passers-by to encounter contemporary performance in an everyday setting rather than a theatre, lowering barriers for attendance and conversation.

• Artist: Olana Light (Portsmouth-based)
• Performers: five local women dancers
• Location: Portsmouth municipal park (outdoor public space)
• Run: through the summer and into the autumn

The work’s aesthetic leans into the uncanny: familiar biological forms are rendered unfamiliar by scale, material and setting. The hessian fabric and the performers’ choreography create a hybrid object that repeatedly morphs between human and inhuman shapes. That ambiguity is a central part of the piece’s effect, prompting viewers to reassess the ordinary park landscape as a stage for an imagined ecological future.

What audiences can expect and why it matters

Performances are slow and contemplative rather than spectacle-driven, designed to reward close watching and repeat visits. The format encourages audiences to move around the form, witness different angles and notice small changes in the choreography as the season progresses. For local arts organisers, the piece demonstrates how public spaces can sustain contemporary practice that is both visually memorable and locally grounded.

By placing the work in a municipal park, Between Land and Tide also raises practical questions about how the city programs public spaces for culture, how arts can respond to environmental conditions, and how communities engage with durational performance in informal settings. The piece is likely to appeal to residents interested in contemporary art, ecological themes and outdoor cultural events.

For residents and visitors, the performance offers a rare, free-form encounter with live art in an everyday setting. It underscores the city’s ongoing role as a host for experimental, place-based cultural projects and invites conversation about the use of public land for art that reflects contemporary ecological anxieties.