To The River

To The River: Sophy Rickett

Sophy Rickett’s new work To The River takes its inspiration from the Severn Bore – an amazing phenomenon of nature whereby a large tidal wave runs along the River Severn during the moon’s equinox. Rickett’s installation incorporates video and surround-sound audio, creating an immersive environment that portrays the anticipation of the crowd on the banks of the river at night awaiting the tidal surge. Rickett comments: “I am interested in ideas around politics and the environment, and also in the very demanding and teleological relationship humans have with the natural world. I am also interested in the Bore as a subject in itself, and equally in its relevance in broader philosophical and cultural terms.”

Premiered as a part of Artsway’s New Forest Pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year, To The River develops Rickett’s interest in the role of the camera as a mediator between people and the natural world, and explores how light and darkness define and articulate our relationship to space. Predominantly using lens-based media – photography and video – she considers the abstract possibilities and narrative tendencies of these media formats. Made mainly at night, her works are often minimal in character, playing on the latent narrative possibilities of place.