The view from a bridge. RiverText: I have been here before.
It’s really interesting to see how people respond to RiverText and what meanings they read into it. Most are amused, they sense the fun I had making it, I think. I like simple ideas, they are often the most effective, even if they are not as simple to realise as they initially appear.
My starting point to interpret the work is that I have made this, or a very similar, work before (2006) so it is a return for me, an attempt to make someting more ambitious but I have been here before. The bricks are recycled and the water is in a continual cycle of renewal, it has been here before. This particular spot on Chorlton Ees is a crossing point, a bridge across Chorlton Brook, where dog walkers meet and chat, they have been here before. I like work that is layered, it is very satisfying to make and revisit. Each time I see it I get something else from it. I hope you do too.
I have already been asked how I got the text to float in the water, the photographs are deceptive. These are very different bricks from the ones I used previously. These seem more modern, are brighter and lighter in colour and stand out from the water while the previous bricks were old and darker and seemed to melt into the brook more. I like both effects for different reasons. I wonder if the brook will re arrange them like they did the last time.
