The Live Sunset on Prospect Cottage by Creative Folkestone and filmmaker Clare Unsworth in memory of Derek Jarman and 30 years since his death

On Monday 19th February, I sat down to watch the sun set streamed live and with beautiful shots from different angles of Jarman's Prospect Cottage and the garden in Dungeness, alongside watching the sun set with purple, orange, pink skies from my own window in my South Wales university house. It felt like a very peaceful few hours, thinking about the inspiring work and life Jarman lived, and how his own relationship with nature and colour reflected this beautiful sky and sense of peace. The way Creative Folkestone set out this was such a beautiful and magical idea...connecting each other to this moment, all of us under the same sky, witnessing and remembering the same person and place. I visited the cottage and Dungeness in the summer and was taken aback by its beauty and isolation in this strange place at the edge of the land! The beach and shingles, the new flowers I discovered, the quiet and creativity of the cottage... This whole moment yesterday inspired me with ideas for the upcoming Art Trail. Perhaps, if say a bench is built and made in the gardens then over the course of the three days, different shots can be filmed with a webcam and live streamed for others to see, and witness the bench amongst the land and nature, the sun sets, the people sitting on it, the passers by.... I also later listened to Derek Jarman's 'Blue' (1993). This profound soundscape and audio journal about his experience of living with Aids and his gradual loss of his sight to the colour blue, alongside memories of friends, lovers... It is so powerful to hear, especially accompanied by music to the dialogue by Brian Eno and Coil. It puts a listener who may otherwise be somewhat naïve in the shoes of Derek Jarman; his life, his creativity and living with the deterioration and suffering his sickness from aids had on his life. The way this sound piece is created, spoken, composed, the story, the heartbreak and beauty has had a great impact on me.