Hidden Waters

Bob Levene 12 November – 20 December 2014

Hidden Waters exhibits the first works produced during Bob Levene’s time as artist in residence in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Exploring the hidden waters that surround us, the show takes a look at the man-made infrastructure and natural systems that we need to survive.

Spending time on a waste water treatment plant (or sewage works) Bob has been following the cycles of water from sky to tap and documenting the journey of the hardy tomato seeds that survive and flourish along the way.

Working with engineers from the Pennine Water Group and Yorkshire Water she explored and mapped the river networks that surround us, the buried infrastructure beneath us and the fenced off treatment works that process our waste. This has resulted in the producing of a series of new mapping works and a two screen video installation.

This is the first in a series of works from Bob’s time in the faculty of engineering which houses civil, electrical, mechanical, bio, chemical & biological engineering as well as materials and computer science, ACSE and aerospace. Pondering on what it means to engineer something? Who are we relying on to solve our problems? What are the problems we are trying to solve? Questioning how the systems and infrastructure we weave our lives around shape our understanding of the world we live in.

Bob’s work looks at the systems & tools we live by and how they shape our lives.The work manifests as wide range of medium including walks, events, actions, recorded video & sound, performance, 2D, installations, films and photography.

Video credit — Chanelle Victor