Ebb:Flow is an animation produced for Hull Time Based Arts’ gage2005 festival. The piece was developed by Duncan McMillan as part of the HTBA Animation For Public Spaces scheme, mentored by artist and animator Dane Watkins (www.eatmydata.co.uk).
The original concept was to produce an animated visual representation of the tidal River Hull. The animation would refect the state of the river's tide in real time, by deriving the date and time from the system clock of the host computer. The animation was screened on “the Big Screen” in Queen Victoria Square in Hull city centre for gage2005. To accommodate the constraints of the display platform the animation was modified so that one tide cycle ran over 13 minutes, rather than 13 hours.
Ebb:Flow explores the relationship between Hull – the river and the city. The river’s tide has been Hull’s heartbeat throughout its 700 year history, providing the city’s lifeblood and its very reason for being. Despite the transitionary nature of the River hull, its tidal flow and shifting banks of mud are a more enduring feature of the landscape than the brick, concrete and steel buildings built upon its banks. |
