The image above shows the aftermath of a performance where a diatom shape was drawn in estuarine mud, highlighting the importance of diatoms in the ecological food chain. Diatoms are single-celled siliceous micro-organisms found in oceans, rivers, and mudflats, responsible for converting CO2 into organic carbon through photosynthesis to produce about 20% of the oxygen we breathe each year.

The water-ways around Bristol are volatile; the Severn Estuary has the second largest tidal reach in the world (about 15m). The tidal waters push up into the Avon through the centre of Bristol and the floods bring deluges down; sewage dumping by the water companies is frequent. It is an environment barely in equilibrium, demonstrated when Cumberland Road outside Spike Island collapsed into the canalised tidal New Cut. The mudbank running alongside the canal at Purton Ship's Graveyard was shored up with end-of-life ships to defend against the ravages of the tide.