DAY TRIP

Liminal Gallery is delighted to present Day Trip, an immersive exhibition by artist Barnaby Barford and composer and sound artist Pascal Wyse. This sensory exploration of Margate — a town of contrasts, where raw nature collides with the artificial glow of amusement arcades — draws on the long-standing British tradition of seaside day trips, where sea air, bright lights, and sensory overload blur together.

Inspired by this liminal space between land and sea, the artists transform the gallery into a funhouse of light, sound, and reflection. Through mirrored surfaces, pulsating lights, and layered soundscapes, Day Trip distorts perspective and warps reality, creating an immersive arcade that is disorientating yet familiar, where visitors catch fleeting glimpses of themselves in the trip.

While Wyse’s microphones capture the waves as they build and erode the profile of the coast, Barford takes inspiration from Margate’s cliffs, where love notes, initials, skulls, and rebellious declarations have been scratched into the rock, only to be slowly erased by the sea. These fading imprints of past visitors are overlaid with the flickering neon hues of arcades, forming a series of illuminated lightboxes that stretch across the entire gallery. Combined with mirrors, their flashing sequences mirror the pulse of arcade machines, expanding into a shifting, disorienting space where reflections of sound and light multiply, distort, and dissolve, pulling visitors into a dazzling, kinetic experience.

Wyse’s soundscape also dissolves the boundary between nature and neon. Sounds merge — from the jangle of cash wins to the crunch of shells underfoot, from seagull screeches to distant cheers as prizes are won, only to be washed away by the crashing of a passing wave. Sights and sounds intertwine, wrapping visitors in a space where Margate isn’t just observed — it’s felt.

The entire gallery will become an extension of the artists’ vision. The installation responds to both Margate and the gallery space itself, transforming the environment through shifting reflections, amplified sounds, and fragmented light. This interplay between natural and artificial elements creates an experience that is ever-changing, shaped by its surroundings and those who pass through it. Day Trip exists in a state of constant flux—formed as much by the space itself as by those who step inside.