River Inception: Kelly Slater

This river currently called ‘Mersey’ has become entwined with my life as a constant yet evolving presence in my thoughts. It has sustained life and spirit in this region for millennia, shaping the land and the lives of the people who depend upon it. The river we know, the one we can see, is wide and placid. Subdued by dams and bridges it meanders through broad agricultural valleys. Yet beyond our view there is a river few of us know: A wild river running through deep gorges and forests.

This river is an embodiment of our society’s dependence on natural resources. It is part of a fundamental earth system that humans cannot exist without. I want to know this river more deeply, beyond the purely physical environment. I want to explore the essence of the river in the seen and unseen places, the sublime and the mundane.