Bridge - Opening Reception

Only Connect EM Forster What makes a bridge? That safe passage across difficult territories; spanning obstacles without closing off the way underneath. The increasing complexity and sophistication of the physical bridge taught us the mechanics of tension, compression, suspension, balance and connection. Over time these physical laws and interactions have evolved into increasingly abstract ideas, further transformed, expressed and communicated through metaphor. Structurally, a bridge allows us to connect. In the human brain nothing stands out so much as the importance of connectivity. Is this the reason the bridge has became the source of our most powerful metaphors? The idea of a bridge exemplifies the search for connectivity in both the physical and metaphysical worlds and through the realm of our fertile imagination. This exhibition looks at the interplays between the physicality of a familiar structure, its haunting sonic characteristics and a rich network of metaphoric and symbolic connections. In the exhibition space the bridge is embodied first through evocative and sensory (re)enactments of structure, light, colour and repetitive, hypnotic sound. The place under and inside the bridge is revealed as a hidden, vaulted world. Two works guide us through levels, illuminating the way. We can appreciate the functionality while feeling the uncanny. The third work is an ambivalent, cinematic journey that promises a destination but paradoxically, denies the arrival. Together these works evoke the Bridge; a journey, a conversation, a reading and (however fragile) the possibility of connection.