The River Stour is home to a new statue, but what do Canterbury's residents think about it?
Kristin Hawthorne reports.
Kristin Hawthorne reports.
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00:00A new underwater sculpture that arrived in the River Starr in Canterbury last week has
00:05stirred the minds of those passing by it.
00:07The statue, called the Alluvia, is a sculpture of a woman underwater.
00:11With backing from many individuals and organisations, it's set to be in the river indefinitely.
00:16While lots of residents and art lovers appreciate the work, others have commented online saying
00:21it's creepy and even looks like a real person's drowning.
00:24In the river behind me lies the art installation that with its arrival has brought a big reaction.
00:29Some people think it's disturbing while others see the beauty and symbolism behind it.
00:33Either way, the crowds that have come here today are taking pictures and willing to share
00:37their opinions.
00:38I've noticed a lot of shocked faces, a lot of people look down into the river and gasp.
00:44I just saw this piece a week ago and I remember it was a kind of visceral, oh what, you know
00:50that kind of, a really strong reaction when I saw it.
00:53Yeah, I quite like it.
00:54I think it's also reading more about it and realising it's a bit more about marine conservation
00:59and things like that I'm sure.
01:00I think it looks like a corpse, a dead corpse.
01:03I think it looks rather sad, it does look like somebody's fallen in and they've got
01:10extremely white.
01:11Apparently it's illuminated at night, so I've seen pictures of that and I think it's even
01:17creepy then.
01:20So was the intention for it to look like a corpse?
01:22I spoke to artist Jason Taylor to find out what he wanted to provoke with the piece.
01:27Well, all of my work is around the world in different places.
01:31It's mostly all underwater and it's all designed to actually create habitats.
01:35So it's designed for corals and sponges and all these different creatures to actually
01:39inhabit and for me that's what it's all about.
01:42It's about creating works of art that are living, that change over time, that reflect
01:49more of us.
01:50You know, we're evolving creatures, we're actually nature ourselves, which I think people
01:56tend to forget about.
01:58But how is a piece of art commissioned and cemented into a community?
02:02I spoke to Stuart Ross, who is responsible for organising its creation.
02:06He says this is an important piece and needs to stay.
02:09This statue has got sensors in it that serve an ecological purpose.
02:14They measure the flow of the water, they measure the quality of the water, and that
02:19information is fed back to the city council.
02:21So not just a work of art, it's also an environmental piece of scientific equipment.
02:28During the evenings, the piece is meant to glow by using the floodlights in the area,
02:33which will start within the next few days.
02:35Whether you love it or love it, the alluvia is causing a ripple of opinions across the
02:39city. Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV in Canterbury.