Ayse Erkmen

Ayse Erkman
Entangled, 2008

Folkestone is home to seven Martello Towers dating back to the Napoleonic Wars. Martello 3, in the East of town, is a fairly well kept tower, painted white, and up to 2001, was used as a visitor centre by Shepway District Council. In contrast, Martello 4 in the West of Folkestone is more of a ruin and completely taken over by a massive layer of ivy that has embedded itself into the 13 ft deep walls. Entangled emulates the ivy cover of Martello 4 at Martello 3 (in what the artist calls ‘a jealousy project’), with a malleable, plastic floral form created by designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. 15,000 of these plastic ‘ivy’ units were joined together similar to Lego, they shrouded the exterior of Martello 3 like a giant curtain or blanket. The camouflage colours refered to the tower’s wartime history.

Ayse Erkmen's spectacular public projects and subtle architectural interventions engage with the architectural, historical, and cultural context of the site she is working with.

Find more of Ayse Erkmen’s work.