Thames Drawing 2 by Ros Burgin
Open year round
Orchard Place, by Trinity Buoy Wharf entrance
Thames Drawing 2 is a new scaled map of the River made using the names of boats that use the Thames collected over a period of months when making the piece. The list of names are ‘woven’ into a continuous piece of text which exactly charts the River’s twists and turns. This original drawing describes the stretch know as the Tidal Thames, flowing through central London from Teddington Lock to the Thames barrier in the east. This piece is part of a series of works made looking at the same stretch of the River each exploring a different characteristic of water and an associated material value, such as salt, gold, wood, names, plastic.
A previous career of mine was as a professional sailor and at sea, when you do not steer a straight course, shown by looking at the wake of a yacht you are said to be writing your name in the water, or signing the sea. I remember this comment when I was researching the boats along the banks of the Thames for this project. I think this piece moves across cultures as it plays with the poetics of boat names, vessels, that are free to sail around the world carrying the language and resonance of their name with them. It highlights the value of a name which may become more significant when out of your country, and the power of a name linked to reputation, as well as the vital use of a name authorising transactions with a signature. The eccentricities that people display when choosing names for people, pets, places and things are equally as abundant when it comes to boats.
