In The Open | Beth Savage

Beth Savage is an artist researcher based in York. Her work investigates human/nature relationships and social ecologies with a particular focus on human/animal interaction. She has undertaken major residencies at Camperdown Wildlife Centre in Dundee and with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust at Attenborough Nature Reserve and has exhibited widely across the UK and internationally. Beth’s practice spans performance, installation, sculpture and writing and she is currently a PhD candidate at Teesside University

Watermark is the outcome of a summer of research into the history of flooding in York. A collaboration across time as well as subject/object boundaries, this research project sought to work with the river as a natural force without malice or mercy and to examine the relationships between the water and the city. Streams of performative investigation reached a confluence in the notion of the watermark and manifested as a pair of books shown in dialogue with one another; one wet and one dry, which explore what the flood water may reveal. These books present flooding as a shaping force within the city, one which leaves its mark in surprising ways. With repeated showings over time, and through the process of soaking and drying, the water will begin to change the form of the wet book, echoing the changes the flood waters make to the city and its people.

Watermark

Beth Savage
Waterproof paper, hydrochromic ink, glass tank, water.
2016