In the late 1700s, River Lea became a primary navigation system for the north-south trade route from Essex to the Thames and encouraged industrialization to boom along the river bank - It powered water mills and was the home for Thames Ironworks, Bromley-by-Bow gas holders, and West Ham Power Station.
Today, the river is faced with constant discharge of sewage, oil leaks, toxic runoffs, and washed-up fertilizers.
My project uses moving images documented from Cody Dock to Three Mills, sound recordings using hydrophones and shotgun microphone, and text referencing Machado de Oliveira’s Hospicing Modernity1 to critique the relationships between those who continue to colonize and monopolize the Lower River Lea, and their impact on the river.
The recording style is inspired by Ursula Biemann’s video commentary Deep Weather2 on the toxic environmental impact colonial actions have and the consequences marginalized communities have to adapt to and endure.
Hospicing Modernity: Published by North Atlantic Books
1 Machado de Oliveira, V. M. (2021). Hospicing modernity: Facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. North Atlantic Books. 2 https://geobodies.org/art-and-videos/deep-weather/
