9 February 2013Last updated at 09:18

Giant egg becomes artist's floating studio in Exbury

An artists impression of the egg in the water

An artist will spend a year working onboard a giant egg anchored on a Hampshire river.

Floating in the Beaulieu Estuary, Stephen Turner hopes to map and record the goings-on of invertebrates and mammals, fauna and flora during the course of four complete seasons.

Inside the 6m by 2.8m egg is a studio and laboratory working space, toilet and pull-out shower, and small kitchen. It is heated with a wood-burning stove, with electricity coming from portable solar panels.

Inspired by the nesting seabirds on the shore, it has been built from reclaimed cedar by local boat builder Paul Baker on a farm in the New Forest, with engineering input from the chief designer of the Queen Mary 2, Stephen Payne.

Mr Turner intends to track, trace and record the activity within a grid on the intertidal area using GPS "to accurately transpose stories, events and material finds".

"We have evolved the egg to meet the particular demands of my environmental art practice so I can address our sad but increasing disconnection from nature at a time of disturbing climatic events," Mr Turner said.

From the end of April he will blog and tweet direct from the egg and answer questions about his work from schoolchildren via postcards. The egg will also be used as a project providing science, art, design and engineering material for local schools, colleges and universities.

At the end of the year, the egg will be exhibited as an artwork. Costing £140,000 it has been funded by Arts Council England, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Hampshire County Council. A further £100,000 in materials has been donated by local businesses.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight

Giant egg becomes artist's floating studio in Exbury

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