ABSTRACT
Lighthouses are profoundly embedded in place as place-signifiers and as parts of larger spatial networks. The lighthouse is an important place-symbol and persists as a material fixture around which everyday rhythms are performed, yet instead of articulating rhythms of work and sound, the lighthouse is more often subject to the rhythms of tourism, synchronised with school holidays and seasonal clemency in the weather. The design and function of the lighthouse here take a particular form, as do the symbolic meanings attached to it. The reassuring and revealing beam of the lighthouse, as well as its stable presence as a base from which to explore these wind-beaten locations, further contribute to the powerful, sensory apprehension of island place. The liminal space materialized by the border is normally a site and symbol of power display, at times emphasized by the military paraphernalia that is token to the sovereignty of states.
