Clyde Reflections by Stephen Hurrel & Ruth Brennan Premiere

Clyde Reflections is a meditative, cinematic experience based on the marine environment of the Firth of Clyde. This new 33-minute film, produced by the collaborative art-science team of artist Stephen Hurrel and social ecologist Ruth Brennan, features underwater and microscopic footage, combined with voice recordings of people who have a close relationship with, or specialist understanding of, the Firth of Clyde. These include a retired fisherman, a marine biologist, a diver, a marine conservationist, a spiritual leader and a physical oceanographer.

‘We see this project as a response to an environment that is often seen as picturesque, natural and seemingly unaffected by interactions between people and place. On the surface, from a distance, the Firth of Clyde looks fairly pristine, but it is only when you begin to understand the complexity of the environment, and begin to see the precarious balancing act that is going on - often beneath sea level - that your perception of it changes.’

We have set the richness and diversity of perceptions of the Clyde against the backdrop of a marine environment which has been both altered by people and enriched by its intangible cultural heritage.

Clyde Reflections is one of 14 projects awarded funding under the 2013-2014 Imagining Natural Scotland initiative which was created to 'explore the interplay between the natural world and its representation, and promote deep collaboration and knowledge exchange between the creative and scientific sectors.’

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Collaborative Team: Stephen Hurrel (artist and filmmaker) & Ruth Brennan (social ecologist, Scottish Association for Marine Science - SAMS).

This project builds on successful collaborative work by the art-science team Hurrel and Brennan, that has included Sea Stories, an innovative online cultural map of the sea based around the island of Barra, Scotland, and the full-colour publication Belonging to the Sea, based around the islands of Barra and Arranmore off Donegal.

See: www.mappingthesea.net for more.