The Line Sculpture Trail

Photographs by Olivier Hess • olivierhess.com

“Hello, I am Bill Nighy”. In his introduction to London’s first public sculpture walk the well-known British actor promises an inspiring excursion through past and present, with a wealth of wildlife along the way. This is “The Line”, a 3-mile-long trail running between the O2-Arena in Greenwich and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, along the Thames and the small river Lea. Art works on the way can be either permanent or are replaced after a while.

For visitors to London the project is a welcome opportunity to experience the capital beyond the obvious. “The Line” aims to be as much about exploring the city’s docklands and waterways as it is about art. Which is of interest to the art critic Charles Darwent – author of biographies on Mondrian and the Bauhaus-artist Joseph Albers – who comes for a walk. Despite his reservations about public art. “Often too institutionalised – turd-in-the-plaza, as they used to say of Henry Moore. Or too ‘accessible’, which is to say patronising”.

We take the Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and start from there. The first thought when arriving at the tube station: Bill Nighy’s preliminary remarks don’t mention the contemporary architecture en route. Which is a pity. For example, Will Alsop – who died 2018 aged 70 and whose work was synonymous with flamboyant use of colour - has designed North Greenwich. Covered in deep-blue mosaics the underground station has a somewhat mysterious mood and is a reminder of how brilliant he could be. Then, from the forecourt of the station, you are faced with the looming 02-Arena (formerly Millenium Dome), a gigantic tent construction which is held together by a circle of 12 steel masts, each 100 metres high. The architect is Richard Rogers, famous for the technical extravagance of his buildings. The art walk starts here and is initially a little irritating. The graphic symbols which serve as signposts to “The Line” are hard to find. Charles Darwent suggests we ignore them. He is right. We can manage without them, since the route runs parallel to the back of the O2, always along the water. At the height of the Intercontinental Hotel the first sculpture comes into view. It is Alex Chinneck’s “A Bullet from a Shooting Star”, a 35-metre-tall structure which takes the form of an upside-down electricity pylon and is an homage to Greenwich’s industrial history. “I like it very much”, says Charles. “It reminds me of Tatlin’s Tower. Energy made visible”. Vladimir Tatlin, he explains, was the leading figure in Soviet avantgarde of the 1920s. “It explored the aesthetics of technology in the pre-Stalin era, the optimism of power”.

Seagulls dive into the water. The reed beds are home to kingfishers, herons and otters, the website informs us. Across the water we glimpse the skyscrapers which were built on the redeveloped quays along the Thames. The docklands have a long history, and one feels the emotional importance they have for Londoners. The Romans unloaded galleys full of wine and oil here for their homesick legionaries. In their heyday in the 19thc century the banks of the Thames from Tower Bridge to Gallions Reach (26 km downstream) were divided into docks and quays, offloading tea, coffee, silk, spices and hard woods. The steady decline of the Empire after 1945 also meant the deterioration of the docklands. Until the re-emergence of a whole new world which, in the 21st century, has a cultural life of its own.

The tide releases rotting driftwood. There is a feeling of melancholy in the air – half industrial wasteland, half romantic wilderness. The contrast to the traditional West End could not be greater. “This is not a pretty side of London, but very interesting”, remarks Charles. On with the walk. “Not so fast”, he calls out now. “You have missed the next artwork”. Indeed. “Here 24,859” is a simple signpost by Jon Thompson and Alison Craighead which is on the invisible Greenwich Meridian and marks the distance from here around the earth and back. A few metres along we spot “Liberty Grip”, the bronze sculpture of a human form by Gary Hume. It stands on a wooden platform made from wood used for railway sleepers. “Not his best work”, decides Charles. Then, looking at the white streaks running down the figure’s head, “At least the seagulls appreciate it. They are excellent critics”.

A moment later the art critic gets more excited. “A portion of a ship. Rather wonderful”, he pronounces when spotting “Slice of Reality” by Richard Wilson. The exhibit is a 1/8th segment of the Arco Trent, originally an ocean-going sand dredger. Wilson bought the Arco Trent and carved a vertical section of the ship, exposing the living quarters and engine room. This piece of maritime history makes us think. “A ship is a paradox”, Charles says. “Heavier than water, and yet buoyant. Cut it in half and it is no longer a ship, it’s a sculpture. Like Theseus’s boat. It’s wonderful to see this here – the British Empire was built on trade and is now as dead and useless as this”.

Next a work by Anthony Gormley. Known for casts of his own body, Gormley prefers these in the natural world rather than in a gallery. Here the 30-metre-high sculpture “Quantum Cloud” is made up of 325 extended steel sections. An enlarged figure based on Gormley’s body forms a residual outline at the centre of the sculpture. “I am not a Gormley Fan”, Charles comments and looks up at the grey sky and the nearby construction sites. “At least, on a day like this, his work disappears into the landscape”.

The cable cars of the Emirates Air Line take us to the Victoria Docks on the north bank and provide a good view of “Quantum Cloud”. The gondolas hover over the harbour basin which is dominated by the congress centre “Excel” (during the pandemic transformed into the hardly used NHS Nightingale hospital) and the futuristic glass construction “The Crystal”. Both the building and the Emirates Air Line station were designed by Wilkinson Eyre architects. Inside there is a permanent exhibition on the future of cities.

There is a swimming platform in front of “The Crystal” with Laura Ford's “Bird Boy”. The still figure of a lonely child in a bird costume touches the heart. From here it is only a short walk to the “Royal Victoria”- Docklands Light Railway station (DLR) which takes us the three stops to Star Lane. Taking the Stephenson Street exit, we follow the zebra crossing and walk along Cody Road which leads to Cody Dock, a former industrial area. Today Cody Dock is a charming community hub with small workshops and picturesque gardens. A welcome stop for a coffee before turning off to the shore of the Lea in the direction of Stratford.

Suddenly the walk becomes tranquil and more rural. Colourful houseboats, willows dip into the water, ducks clean their plumage. The supermarket “Sainsbury’s” in the background has presumably donated the components for the next artwork: Abigail Fallis’s “DNA DL90” is made of 22 shopping trolleys in the form of the double helix - a homage to the discovery of the molecular structure in biology. The accompanying board explains that the artist sees her work also as a symbol of modern consumer culture. Charles nods enthusiastically. “One of the odder uses of rivers and canals is as a dumping ground for shopping trolleys”, he says. “So, it is very droll of Fallis to use them for waterside sculpture. And she’s right: in these e-commerce days, shopping has become part of our genetic structure”.

On to the tide mill “Three Mills Island”. Again, Google Map helps more than The Line’s signposts: We leave the shore and go up to the main road. A left turn, down the “Twelve Trees Bridge”, then local guideposts lead to Three Mills Island. This is the most enchanting part of the walk. We are in the middle of town and somehow not. It is so quiet here. Swans glide through the water. One feels to be back in the 14th century when these mills supplied the local bakers with their flour. Today they house London’s biggest Film- and TV studios.

Passing the small adjacent park “Three Mills Green” on the right, we approach the figurative sculpture “Reaching Out” by Thomas J Price. The larger-than-life statue of a young black woman, looking at her mobile telephone is clearly a nod to the “Black Live Matter”-movement. Only, at nine feet tall, it looks out of place here. A few minutes later we reach the High Street of Stratford. Turning right, then left into Warton Road we aim for the beautifully kept park which was built for the Olympic Games in 2012.

Unmistakable – the dynamic form of the “Aquatic Centre” is a typical Zaha Hadid-Design. Even more dominating is the bright red “ArcelorMittal Orbit”, so named after its main sponsor. Central to the 114-metre-high steel sculpture by Anish Kapoor is a giant slide by Carsten Höller that spirals through the frame and through which visitors can whiz down. Comments reach from “monstrous trombone” to “Helter Skelter on Acid”. “I love it”, says Charles decidedly. “To me it also has something of the Sowjet-Tatlin-feel. And it has energy. Maybe the organisers hoped, this energy would stay after the Games and make the district livelier”.

“The Line” ends here. Back home with the underground in the adjacent “Westfield”-shopping centre. With 250 shops and 70 places to eat, a comparison with the controversial “ArbitalMittal Orbit” comes to mind: To some a huge shopping mall is pure horror, for others there is nothing more exciting. It has been an interesting expedition – full of contrasts.