Peter Matthews

37 Meters of Ocean Memory

2013. Found rope from Atlantic Ocean. 67cm x 37cm.

37 meters of lost and discarded rope was collected over a period of days wondering the Atlantic coastline in England. Collected in a hunter-gatherer approach, the notions of how to quantify and measure ocean memory were explored, how to give weight and a visceral presence to something that is fleeting and intangible.  Rope fragments, each with their own ocean memory, were collected and attached to a piece of rope found before, and by doing
so a lengthening narrative of memory fragments gained weight as it was pulled around the edge of the ocean.