For her Satellites Programme exhibition, Collette Rayner has created a new film based on research into the Principality of Sealand, a Sovereign micronation located six nautical miles off the Port of Felixstowe. Working with digital animation, sound and text, Collette reclaims an unsuccessful attempt to gain access to Sealand in 2013. Initially constructed in 1943 for naval guards, Sealand has been occupied by the Bates family since 1967 and is currently under the charge of Prince Michael Bates of Sealand. Over its complex history, Sealand has been a site for a pirate radio station and recently functioned as a computer storage facility allegedly holding fraudulent data for a numbers of corporations. This unique history, along with the monumental and sculptural qualities of Sealand are the starting points for the three new animations, sound work and a text.

Download the exhibition information here

Read about Access as Idiot Distraction in The Skinny

Read the Satellites 2014 Publication here

Satellites Programme is Collective’s development programme for emergent artists and producers based in Scotland. 2014 participants were: Catrin Jeans, Kathryn Elkin, Dane Sutherland, Laura Yuile, Marie-Michelle Deschamps, Matthew Richardson and Collette Rayner