An
American artist,
Roni Horn was shortlisted for the
Citibank Photography Prize 2001. Her
installation was entitled
Still Water (The River Thames, for Example). Inspired by the
murky waters of The Thames, it's a series of large format photographs framed by
footnotes of text. The
detailed images of the
water are surprisingly
varied and contain more than you could imagine of simple close-up picture of
The Thames.
Tiny numbers all over the photo refer you to particular footnotes, which are anecdotes and thoughts written by Horn over the course of a year - they bear little or no relation to the water but work well to add depth to the images.
According to artist herself: 'Much of it was written as reverie, my reverie, evolving quickly into a manic, litany with chorus-like elements... I wrote these notes in the solitude of myself but I did so anticipating your arrival.'
Despite this rather pretentious and off-putting description of the idea behind the work, if you get the chance to see it, you will probably find something more real to take away from it, as I did.