Madam,

No offence to Kim Williams or any other objectors to Tree (‘What a poignant and respectful beach art project - unlike Tree’).

The Danny Boyle Pages of the Sea event at Ynyslas on Armistice Day was indeed very poignant and memorable. So much so that we were saddened and dismayed to see it being brought into any kind of entanglement with a local dispute concerning a projected art work on the beach in Borth.

However, within the context of the letter, we fail to understand a) why metal is considered to be such an undesirable material in any art work – cf. Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Anthony Caro, Anselm Kiefer and countless others and b) how can a beach be a democratic space?

Democratic space is normally understood to be a concept related to human beings. It is particularly relevant in authoritarian regimes and speaks to the problem of people facing limitations on where they can meet, how they can interact and what they can say or do.

If someone considers Tree to be such a destructive project it is hard to understand why they would feel the need to mention it in the context of Pages of the Sea.

The two projects are not in any way comparable. One was nationwide and the other is local. Both have their supporters relative to their enormous differences in size and scope.

In the case of Tree many of its supporters do not feel comfortable in their democratic space and are afraid to express their opinions as discussion has become so overwrought (to use a metallic reference!). Many people feel the need to express their approval and liking of Tree in private spaces only.

Yes, both projects were and are projected to be on a beach but, as far as we are aware, no other events on beaches in the Pages of the Sea project have been used to grind political axes.

In fact, surely one of the intentions of Danny Boyle was seemingly to transcend politics and bring people together as human beings who seek, in their act of remembrance, to strive for peaceful ways of sharing their lives and living spaces.

We live in very uncertain times and hope that we in Borth can get back to being able to appreciate and enjoy the world around us through another lens other than one which is constantly focused on objections to Tree.

Yours etc,

Jackie Bat-Isha and Lin Stevens, Borth.

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