« How to draw one second of The Incredibles | Main | Pluto: latest update »

September 27, 2006

Walk on water

There's an astonishing art installation right now in London, called Bridge. Michael Cross took a former church and flooded it with water. Sunk beneath the water, a series of stepping stones. Stand at the water's edge and the first stone rises up out of the depths. Step on that first stone, and the next stone slowly surfaces, one step ahead. Step forward again, and another stone rises up in front of you, while the stone behind sinks away again. It takes 30 steps to make it out to the middle of the lake within the church, another 30 steps to go back the way you came.

Visitors to Bridge (which is part of the London Design Festival) say that participants have widely varying reactions. Some think it's a wonderful experience, others find the whole thing terrifying. Personally, I don't know if I'd try it. But I sure would love to see it.

Posted by Chris Spurgeon at September 27, 2006 11:15 PM

chris, i love your blog. saw you on TV and in the newspaper in arkansas over the pluto bumper stickers. peter has a facisnation with oddites of the natural world and came upon these beauties...not really your usual intersection of art and science, but i thought you might enjoy these beauties. check em out! http://www.pinktentacle.com/2006/05/rainy-season-brings-glow-in-the-dark-mushrooms/ (yes they are real)

Posted by: amy klee at September 28, 2006 05:13 PM

It looks a bit scary for me.. at least the picture above makes me feel scary. Imagine if the person there does not know it is a art installation and he does not know swimming.. He would be wondering when and where would the next step pop out!

Posted by: sathish at September 29, 2006 07:10 PM

Kind of like Peter and The storm.

Bob Sr.

Posted by: Robert Moseley Sr. at October 1, 2006 05:41 PM

This is amazing, but I don't think I could do it!! I would love to see someone else do it though. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

Posted by: Judy at October 1, 2006 06:18 PM

if anyone has details on exactly where this is, i might go up and try it out.. and take some pics too!

Posted by: Adam at October 5, 2006 06:41 AM

I found the salient details missing from this entry. It's in Dilston Grove, at the south end of Southwark Park. I'll have to pay it a visit, as it's only about ten minutes from my place.

Posted by: Paul Battley at October 5, 2006 11:38 AM

Flooding a church is blasphemy you should all be ashamed.

Posted by: Atomicat at October 5, 2006 03:45 PM

Huh, I don't remember the commandment: Thou shalt not flood an abandoned church

Posted by: Paul at October 5, 2006 06:21 PM

Isn't this like faith? Isn't this the only way we walk with God? One step visible at a time?

Posted by: Wayne at October 6, 2006 08:28 PM

What drove me to check out this link was the Indiana Jones movie where Jones is stepping out over a deep cavern in an attempt to get to the other side. With each step (as he took the step) a new step appeared. I watched that scene in total fascination because I realized (like Wayne) that that was how God expects us to walk; taking each step in our walk of faith, anticipating that God will provided and take care of us. I remember crying because it was so powerful a moment for me. In all honesty, I don't walk that way. I don't know if I'd call the exhibition "art", but it is very interesting.

Posted by: Jo Anne at October 8, 2006 05:32 AM

"Flooding a church is blasphemy you should all be ashamed." What utter tosh.

Posted by: CJ at October 14, 2006 03:22 AM

I think it is cool only because if a regular himan can do that then imagine what God gane do.

Posted by: Ashley at October 17, 2006 07:15 AM

Anyone know how deep the water is ?

Id love to travel down from Scotland to try it and I'm absolutely terrified of water.

Posted by: Jim at October 25, 2006 12:50 PM

who cares if they flooded the church? churches are just like any other room. you christians might as well have your "mass" or "ceremony" or whatever you idiots call it in a basement or a bed room.

Posted by: zeroordie0 at November 3, 2006 05:35 PM

I could visualize static stones all visible above the waterline, but arranged by design to artsy dynamism; into the realm of, say, the Zen Garden, cutting across religious clubs into the universality of faith. It is to me more blasphemous to put faith into any structured religious form of worship. The church, abandoned, is SO APT.

Posted by: peter kou at November 15, 2006 09:30 AM

I reckon it's a great modern day example of an instruction from Jesus that (to my knowledge) was a lesson for us all;Peter just happened to be the character that we learned it from!

Jesus would say to each of us, 'You of little faith. Why did you doubt?'

Does anyone know if the account of Matthew 14:22 - 33 is discussed at all at the display?

As for flooding the Church beng blasphemous, I am reminded of Jesus' instruction to the disciples when He tells them to not hinder other people preaching the word (Luke 9:49 - 50). They weren't preaching in the traditional sense, but they were preaching. God Himself gives us the 'okay' to step and think outside the box. This is a form of preaching, and the "Church" is merely a building. PEOPLE make a church, not bricks and mortar.

Posted by: neil at January 12, 2007 03:30 PM