artworks/inHerElement — Anne Lydiat

In Her Element

On 02.02.02 we made a decision that would change every aspect of our lives together, I moved on board an old British Medway Coaster, MB Rock (1961), with my husband Chris Wainwright (1955/2017) to a new state of transient being. Initially, the barge was moored in the Pool of London on the south side of the River Thames as part of a small community of live- aboard boats. The flood tide came upstream twice a day lifting the vessels 7.5 meters and then turned on the ebb back to the sea. At low tide some of the vessels, including Rock, grounded on the riverbed leaving them high and dry on the shore whilst awaiting for the tide to return to lift them afloat again. This liminal state of existence, suspended between the shore and the ship, was not an easy transition, it totally changed my outlook on life and shaped who I have become as a woman and as an artist.

In December 2008 we moved Rock onto the purpose built moorings at Hermitage located on the north side of the river in Wapping. ‘In her element’ was the title I used for the ongoing series of writings and artworks made in the ‘hold’ of the vessel, (the hold that once held the cargo now holds me), in order to record the physical resonances and trace the constant somatic movement. These artworks were dynamic and durational, echoing the ebb and flow of the tides whilst utilising the architectural elements of the vessel, in particular the portholes (the lens or eyes of the ship) that look out onto the riverscape. I photographed and videoed my presence on the inside, gazing outside onto the river beyond - evoking a sense of intimacy and distance, a liminal, transitional place, a form of withdrawing on water.

Anne Lydiat in the interior of her home and studio, MB Rock. Photo: © Katherine Fawssett, www.katherinefawssett.com

In December 2008 we moved Rock onto the purpose built moorings at Hermitage located on the north side of the river in Wapping. ‘In her element’ was the title I used for the ongoing series of writings and artworks made in the ‘hold’ of the vessel, (the hold that once held the cargo now holds me), in order to record the physical resonances and trace the constant somatic movement. These artworks were dynamic and durational, echoing the ebb and flow of the tides whilst utilising the architectural elements of the vessel, in particular the portholes (the lens or eyes of the ship) that look out onto the riverscape. I photographed and videoed my presence on the inside, gazing outside onto the river beyond - evoking a sense of intimacy and distance, a liminal, transitional place, a form of withdrawing on water.

Each day presented new challenges, checking ropes, filling the water tank, emptying the black tank, not using too many appliances simultaneously as the overload would blow the power supply. After a brief period of sea sickness and loss of balance when going ashore, I sooon settled into a routine and adapted to my new life afloat. Rock was connected to, and separated from, the shore and each of the other vessels, an in-between fluvial space where nothing was ever fixed.