earthwork

It said £30m was being invested in earthworks across Lancashire and Cumbria over the next four years "to stabilise embankments, track beds and cuttings", as well as a £323m modernisation programme to futureproof the route.

Armajani’s unusual earthwork joined in: Embracing a legal, bureaucratic form, he pointed to land as a decidedly social structure.

The BBC has filmed construction taking place alongside a military vehicle near the town of Majdal Shams, and fresh earthworks in rural land further south.

“It was going to be almost a vocal earthwork,” said Aitken, who tends to think and speak in floating, unearthly concepts.

She called it “Malibu Line” and it was the first of her many earthworks exploring the body’s relationship to land and cosmos, using bold pigments on natural materials like rocks and sand.