The River Tay gives the City of Dundee a natural border that partially encloses the city with a fluid barrier. In its role as a provider of protection, of travel, of sustenance, and floating economic wealth, the river’s own journey has perhaps been overlooked. Placed between vertical landscapes, the horizontal traverse of water carves its own history in the moment of passing, beneath the surface towards the seabed, and upwards towards the sky. In the river's drift, the memory is not a human one, but a slow passing of time recorded in the simplicity of movement in relation to its own topographical context.

Drift is a work of three films that are durational in their nature of production. Between the two bridges of the River Tay, the artist Lindsay Brown will float both downstream and upstream whilst making films of the passing water, seabed and sky. Two of these quiet journeys are taking place in early morning and at dusk, and will be filmed for Dundee Live as performative events. This journey duet will be presented unedited on two television screens in Olympia swimming pool café. The third Drift was filmed in June 2011 and will be shown as a back-projected moving image. This allows it to be viewed in the swimming pool where the artist as a schoolchild took part in city Galas, and on persuaded occasions, trained with the City of Dundee swimming club. The third Drift film is a very personal one, and takes in the artist’s preparation to deal with the river as well as passing landmarks and the general public who were fun enough to wave. Drift is partially funded and supported by Fife Visual Artists Award through Fife Council and Creative Scotland. Additional footage was generously taken by Dylan Drummond, a local photographer and film-maker.

Stray Seal (Lindsay Brown)

Lindsay Brown studied Sculpture and graduated from Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen in 2001, and is currently a PhD student in Art and Media at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee where her study revolves around structures of knowledge using the underwater environment as a tool for exploration. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently at Shift Festival of Electronic Arts in Basel, Switzerland where the underwater film Electric Chair was shown; this was filmed around a wreck in the Firth of Forth. Lindsay is currently setting up her own underwater videographic company Stray Seal for survey educational and creative film. Stray Seal is supported by NESTA, Cultural Enterprise and Starter for Six.

http://www.strayseal.com

Part one

What: Performance / Drift.
Where: Tay Estuary (to be viewed from the walkway) - meeting at 7am under the Tay Road Bridge and at 9.30pm under the Tay Railway Bridge.
When: 8th July 7-8am (incoming tide) and 9.30-10.30pm (outgoing tide).

Part two

What: Video Installation.
Where: Olympia Leisure Centre, Earl Grey Place, DD1 4DF.
When: 9th-17th July 10am-5pm.