The Great Canvey Island Chimney Disaster at Estuary Festival
Photo courtesy of Sam Wainwright
On 28th & 29th June 2025, visitors to Estuary Festival experienced the multiple sounds of the original chimney demolition, both audible and inaudible. They heard the explosions that brought down the chimney through headphones, sensed the trebling landscape as vibrations delivered by handheld devices that could be pressed to the body, and felt blasts of wind that simulated the dust flying through the air after the chimney’s initial collapse downwards and then its final toppling over. The intensity of these blasts contrasts with the slower release of subtler sensations in their ears, including a lingering white noise as the explosions left what feels like a temporary tinnitus.
To create the sounds, Library of Lost Sounds utilised a poetic interpretation of panmnemism: the philosophy that all non-human animals, plants and even ‘inanimate’ objects possess a form of memory, built from all that they have experienced. Crucially, these memories can be communicated, and, using a collection of items found at the chimney's site, Library of Lost Sounds released the sounds stored within these ‘instruments’ to recreate ‘The Great Canvey Island Chimney Disaster’: wooden fragments gave the sound of the chimney buckling and breaking; pieces of rubble gave the sound of the chimney collapsing; and dust particles gave the sound of the debris-filled wind that blows in the aftermath.
‘The Great Canvey Island Chimney Disaster’ was created in collaboration with Jo Loman (an educator in community engagement and wildlife conservation) and Marc Outten from RSPB.
About Estuary Festival
Estuary 2025 was the 3rd edition of the contemporary arts festival celebrating the stories, places and people of the Estuary. Through the theme of 'Vessels', Estuary 2025 (21-29 June 2025) looked beyond the boats and ships of the Thames Estuary to explore how communities, people, flora, fauna and even art events might be thought of as vessels, carrying stories, memories and ideas.