Bridge
Bridge is a big project, a real dream. It's ongoing, and will take time and a great deal of effort to get right but here is it's vision and it's story so far.
The Dream
...I wanted to walk to the middle of a lake and stand there surrounded only by water… I saw that I would need a new kind of bridge.
The idea for Bridge first sprouted from a simple desire, I wanted to stand in the middle of a lake surrounded only by water. I didn't want a boat to get me there or a pier to link me safely to land and I didn't want to get wet. I wanted to walk across the water to the middle of a lake, so I saw that I would need a new kind of bridge and I decided to make one. The Bridge would be made of steps that would rise from the water as you walked across them, and disappear back underneath behind you. I wanted to make the whole thing mechanical (no extra electrics or hydraulics) so that the person walking on it would power it, their footfall on each step raising the next.
The experience should to be dream-like, by which I mean that it should have it's own internal sense that is completely plausible but at the same time shifted from your usual understanding of the world, sensible and normal within it's own terms, but alien to the everyday. The piece would deal in fear and delight, anxiety and peace. I wanted it to embody a strong sense of wonder and a desire to question, explore, challenge and change - well.... everything.
The experience should to be dream-like, by which I mean that it should have it's own internal sense that is completely plausible but at the same time shifted from your usual understanding of the world, sensible and normal within it's own terms, but alien to the everyday. The piece would deal in fear and delight, anxiety and peace. I wanted it to embody a strong sense of wonder and a desire to question, explore, challenge and change - well.... everything.
The first prototype at Dilston Grove
...a great success, a good start to the project, a great way of learning about the mechanism, and a taste of things to come.
And so to building a prototype- a first attempt. Working with Andree Cooke I looked for a place to install a prototype of the Bridge that would be opened to the public as an exhibition. We (by which I mean Andree) persuaded Cafe Galley Projects to let us use Dilston Grove, a wonderful old church which is now an artists project space. Then we got some funding and a few months later (I'm glossing over a fair bit of detail here) we started installing. This was tough, to start with I had to make a lake in a church (60cm deep if you're curious - a lot of people ask) and that's not so easy never mind the Bridge itself, and the budget was tight.
Technical issues were legion, without going into detail- everything was difficult, unreliable and prone to failure, and that was before the crowds showed up. This is par for the course with a prototype. That's what they're for- to test and improve, but you always hope things will work perfectly first time so it's a bit frustrating nonetheless.
Technical issues were legion, without going into detail- everything was difficult, unreliable and prone to failure, and that was before the crowds showed up. This is par for the course with a prototype. That's what they're for- to test and improve, but you always hope things will work perfectly first time so it's a bit frustrating nonetheless.
54,000 litres...
During the six weeks of the exhibition 2300 people came through the door. At first there were crowds in the building, which dampened the experience for the people on the Bridge as a bit of a fair ground atmosphere took hold. Then I decided the crowds could wait outside, which meant long waits at busy times. There were days when it was all a bit difficult.
Not everything worked, the springs that make the steps disappear had to be disconnected when the public were there as they made the whole mechanism too unstable, and were bound to cause excessive accident levels. There was also a high level of "freaking out" which meant that most people had to be escorted, and after so much traffic the whole thing began to pack up. All of that said it was a great success, a good start to the project, a great way of learning about the mechanism, and a taste of things to come.
Not everything worked, the springs that make the steps disappear had to be disconnected when the public were there as they made the whole mechanism too unstable, and were bound to cause excessive accident levels. There was also a high level of "freaking out" which meant that most people had to be escorted, and after so much traffic the whole thing began to pack up. All of that said it was a great success, a good start to the project, a great way of learning about the mechanism, and a taste of things to come.
Risk and the public - Health and safety hell.
...Common sense would say that you should be able to warn people that they're taking a risk of their own free will and let them get on with it, but the law says otherwise.
The first prototype of Bridge was a bit - well- dodgy, and from the off it was clear that there would probably be some accidents (in the end there were three). Nothing really bad seemed likely but a sprained ankle or broken wrist wasn't out of the question, and in theory a banged head could lead to concussion and that could mean drowning. Common sense would say that you should be able to warn people that they're taking this risk of their own free will and let them get on with it, but the law says otherwise. Disclaimers are not binding under UK law, and it was clear that I was personally liable for this risk. How much will Claims Direct get you for a broken wrist? And don't forget your month off work and the emotional trauma? Whatever it is, it's more than I had to spare and enough to end my career. Special insurance was obviously in order. This cost a small fortune- and worse yet in order for the policy to be valid every potential risk- from panic, to vertigo to slippery shoes had to be analysed and measures put in place to reduce it. Even worse yet, in the weeks before the opening Maurice Agis' Dreamscape installation went disastrously wrong, killing two people and leading to his arrest for manslaughter. As a result arts organisations all over the country suddenly became paranoid- and I started to really worry. All this resulted in frankly ridiculous levels of safety precautions, which were embarrassing and frustrating for me, and disappointing for the public. If you were part of that disappointed public I can only say I'm sorry - but that's the society we've somehow managed to make for ourselves. The future of HS law looks bleak to me, I can only say that in future versions of the bridge this problem should go away as the mechanism is improved, making the whole thing safer.
And Next?
Next is the second prototype, better, safer, more reliable. I'm working on it....