‘Utopian Realism’ is an exploration of rural utopianism, idealism and industrialism in the North East of England and Mid Wales by the artists Mair Hughes and Bridget Kennedy.

Saturday 25 June 2011

Refections on water

Water is another linking factor between the places we are visiting during this project, I've been recording water where ever I go.

The imagery from the Gin Hill Shaft made me think of a piece of writing I came across about Thomas Sopwith. He is reputed to have told his biographer WB Richardson that:

"the mountain led him towards the skies and made him familiar with the stars;

the earth kept him from being too aspiring, and in return made him familiar with the treasures of old which lie on her surface;

and the mine took him under the earth, a still humbler sphere, to seek out knowledge in darkness, and goods that are held in secret".

For a man with so many practical interests: geology, engineering, economics etc; Sopwith could be quite poetic.

No comments:

Post a Comment