TROPICAL THAMES / CROSSRAIL PLACE ROOF GARDEN, CANARY WHARF, LONDON
COMMISSIONED BY CANARY WHARF ARTS / TOTALLY THAMES 2017
Submerged, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches. Tropical Thames in Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London, 2017
Tropical Thames, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches, 2017
Submerged / Tidal Friction, Digital Prints on Dibond Aluminium. Tropical Thames in Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London, 2017
Ephemera, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches, 2017
Shadow Play, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches. Tropical Thames in Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London, 2017
Tidal Friction, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches, 2017
Sea Change / Seeing Double, Digital Prints on Dibond Aluminium. Tropical Thames in Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London, 2017
Thames Riviera, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches, 2017
Tidal Friction, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches. Tropical Thames in Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London, 2017
Shadow Play, Digital Print on Dibond Aluminium, 220 x 160 cm / 87 x 63 inches, 2017
Anne Krinsky: Tropical Thames
Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London
Commissioned by Canary Wharf Arts for 2017 Totally Thames Festival
Tropical Thames, my installation of eight large-scale digital prints on Dibond Aluminium panels, was inspired by Thames architectural structures in southeast London – docks, piers and river walls shaped by centuries of shipping and trade. Tropical Thames also responded to the Garden's dramatic roof structure, designed by Foster and Partners, and to its plantings, some of which were species that first entered Britain through Thames docks.
Designing Tropical Thames involved some time travel, to London’s trading past and to its potential future. In making this work, I thought about the urgent issue of climate change and the effects of rising temperatures and sea levels on the tidal river. Tropical Thames might be a beautiful nightmare.