The Royal Docks began as the main point of inspiration for Message in a Bottle. The water, the docks, the history of shipping and industry all inspired a collection of collage, photography, and drawing documenting the pull of the water. From kisses at the waterside to wrestling with prosperity, growth, and community; each response interprets the docks in a personal way.

Rudy Tomala, Blue body of mine

“I made it in relation to my body and water, specifically the feeling of floating in water and travelling home.”

A collage of paper materials on card of blue floating body shapes floating amidst green, pen drawn and cut out foliage towards an image of a house, with separate text split across the page reading ‘blue body of water’, ‘take me home please’ and ‘str…

A collage of paper materials on card of blue floating body shapes floating amidst green, pen drawn and cut out foliage towards an image of a house, with separate text split across the page reading ‘blue body of water’, ‘take me home please’ and ‘strange new friend’. The central body shape has been drawn on to include mastectomy scars.

16. Constanza Ramirez.jpg

Connie Ramirez, R0y9L D0ck5

“A distorted image of the Royal Docks. But, is not all that we see a distortion of reality? Especially in these days when technology intervenes repeatedly in our daily lives? R0y9L D0ck5, seeks to question this relationship between distortion of reality, everyday life and technology.”

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DA Benstead-Cross, K

“As a historian and a writer, I’m fascinated by the social and performative aspects of places. I’ve tried to bring these ideas into the zine page.”

K uses collage and rubber stamps to create a cryptic personal story in relation to the docks. The cctv camera and the selected cut and paste text feels like a secret message.

Anonymous, Occupy

“Newham has lots of historic roots in shipping & industry, playing a huge role in London's prosperity. Capital growth made me think about origins: who has the right to buy and sell natures goods? Who owns the land & sea which provide the 'goods'? … Boroughs came about parallel to land ownership, which is a bit of a slippery slope concept. Newham has been a municipality for years, but who owns those houses and what makes them a home if they aren't owned by their residents? All of these themes are explored.”

Illustration of a house as a cross stitch pattern in pink, blue, and green. The text across the image reads "Occupy."
A small outline of a map of the UK appears under a numbered grid.
A double spread of pages from the zine. The left hand page features a small rectangle featuring pink and white embroidery patterns. Across the image the words "you can hear the birds without any trace of anger" are placed over the top. The right hand
A double spread of pages from a zine. The left hand page features a collaged image from a map with the sentence "some birds are knowing little sprites" across the image. The right hand page features a square of coloured embroidery paper with the text
The left hand page features a black and white illustration of a flower with the cut and paste collage text "what a splendid home." The right hand page features a colour illustration of a pink flower with a bright green stem and leaves with the cut an
The left hand page features a rectangle of pink and white shapes taken from a cross stich pattern with the collage text reading "Attracted by a wooden box. Boxes. Boxes. Hollowed out." The right hand side includes an image of a green window against a
The left hand page is a blank white page with the collage text reading "Oh." The right hand page includes a collage of images of a map and a bird and text reading "the box must belong to animals out there in the barn."
The left hand page features an image of a green gate against a purple background from a cross stitch pattern. The right hand page is a blank white page with collage text reading "they made a comfortable bed, felt almost useful again, home again."
The left hand page features a collage of a map cut out in the shape of a rain drop with the word "rain" appearing inside the rain drop. Collage text underneath the raindrop reads " usually did not seem very hard." The right hand page features pink an
The left hand page features a collage of a page from a book of writing with another piece of text stuck over the top which reads "I wonder if you'd care." The right hand page features pink, white, blue, and green shapes from a cross stich image with
Both pages are blank white pages with collage text. The text on the left hand page reads "With such a load." The text on the right hand side reads "You should be bored be bored be sure be made to make talking bleating."
Left hand page features green bars of a fence against a blue background from a cross stitch pattern. The collage text reads "a piece of fat suspended to a thickness of". The right hand page features a map with collage text stuck over the top reading
The left hand page features a black and white painting of a queen addressing her subjects. The men of her court have had their eyes covered over with green strips as part of a collage. The collage text across the image reads "trunk of a tree and a fe
The left hand page includes an extract of a cross stich pattern featuring pink and white shapes. Across the image is collage text reading "Invoices in our gardens." The right hand page features a colour map with collage text across reading "induced t
Left hand page features a page of writing from a book with a collage black and white photograph of a bird overlapping. The collage text reads "Well, home on!". The right hand page features an illustration of green bars from a fence against a blue and
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Mapping