(…) Our porosity is what enables us to live at all, but “this porosity…does not discriminate against that which can kill us”. Because water is such a capable vector, not only does life-giving potentiality course through our transcorporeal waterways, but so also does illness, contamination, inundation. – Astrida Neimanis, Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water, 2013

The River Lea originates in Bedfordshire and winds its way southeast through Hertfordshire, traversing the Essex border until it converges with the River Thames at Bow Creek in East London, traversing both rural and urban environments. Since medieval times, alterations have been made below Hertford to enhance boat navigability, transforming the riverbanks into convenient locales for industrial structures. Despite its classification as one of the UK's most polluted rivers, the evident lack of visibility surrounding the extensive pollution raises critical questions about the comprehensiveness and understanding of the environmental repercussions for planetary health. Substantial amounts of industrial and domestic waste are routinely discharged into the river through sewage, constituting a form of pollution that is challenging to discern but profoundly affects the river. This inconspicuous yet profoundly damaging pollution underscores the urgency of making this problem visible, advocating for a more perceptible understanding of the porosity of environmental hazards in the water.

The project explores the idea of a river being distributed "everywhere"¹ rather than contained between two lines separating water from land. The river shapes and affects surrounding life through natural hydrological cycles, including precipitation, the formation of flows, evaporation, and the formation of clouds. The river's presence sustains the organisms inhabiting its environs, their vitality intimately tied to the river's overall health. The river's poor health significantly impacts wild animals, damaging their nervous systems, immunity, and reproduction ability. Moreover, human communities nearby also grapple with the repercussions, as the river's compromised state and the lack of clear regulations raise concerns about its safety.

The project focuses on the impact of domestic chemical substances funnelled into the Lea through sewage, ultimately transforming the river into a dangerous and toxic milieu. The tangible impact of these chemicals on waterscapes becomes apparent through the incorporation of commonplace items like laundry detergents, vegetable oil, fertilisers, nail polish removers, and oven and drain cleaners, strategically utilised for creating chemigrams – a method involving the application of these chemical elements onto photosensitive paper. This process disrupts the traditional representation of a river, departing from the conventional portrayal of a clear course. Instead, it reveals the river as a porous entity, underlining its interconnectedness and how water and pollution permeate and seep into surrounding bodies. The resulting composition challenges the standard depiction of a river's line and depicts the widespread distribution of wetness within the surrounding river ecosystem.

¹Dilip da Cunha, The Invention of Rivers: Alexander's Eye and Ganga's Descent,2018

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