20 MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2020 EVENING STANDARD Life & Arts |

Natural creativity: Tranquil waters, Gilded Floating Manor House by Jonathan Wright. Inset below, frolicking otters Wetland by Tania Kovats — and lots of art VISUAL ART That Sinking Feeling – The London Wetland Centre has invited a work by Alec Stevens artists to respond to the landscape and it’s what 2020 needs, says Jessie Thompson

RT floating in tranquil personal to the urgently political — and, to literary and political group the Kit waters, surrounded by oh, what a canvas. The mischievously Kat Club. Wright is interested in the birdsong and frolicking titled first work, Whether it Changes cycles of both nature and politics; for otters ... doesn’t that sound Anything. Weather — It Changes Harknett, the acknowledgement that a bit too utopian for 2020? Everything, by Anne Deeming, even nature always carries on makes it one IA know, but such a place really does rewards going out when it’s raining (you of the more hopeful works. exist. And perhaps most unbelievably can’t stop art, second winter lockdown). The aim of Unravelled’s work is to of all it’s right here in the capital, at the When the heavens open its five floating “reveal what’s not necessarily always London Wetland Centre. sculptures will release a dazzle of col- apparent”, says Harknett. It makes the Described by David Attenborough as ours into the surrounding water, with Wetlands Centre an obvious choice for “London’s extra lung” and home to rain activating their hydrochromatic artists to respond to: although it appears more than 2,300 different species, paint. Every time you come back, it will to have a ragged, beautiful wildness, it including gadwalls, wigeons and bit- look different. Like us “they’re totally is entirely man-made and very strictly terns (incredibly fancy ducks, for the at the mercy of their environment”, managed. This was one of the para- uninitiated), the vast wetland reserve Harknett explains. “Artworks always try doxes that Harknett and Heffer- in Barnes is now home to a set of lovely and resist their environments. We’re nan asked the artists to new creatures, in the shape of five spe- always trying to put them in cases, or consider (five more artists are cially commissioned artworks. They are controlling the temperature and creating works to go on show here thanks to Unravelled Arts, run by humidity — this is the opposite of that.” there in 2021). But the curator Polly Harknett and artist and While Gavin Osborn was inspired by human intervention of cre- curator Caitlin Heffernan, which asks the wetlands to create an album of ating wetlands in the capital, artists to create works for settings very soundscapes, featuring the voices of the instigated by the late WWF

different to bog-standard blank gallery centre’s staff members and sounds that JULIAN ABRAMS founder Peter Scott, is also a walls, sparking unexpected dialogues centre the mind on your surroundings, fitting metaphor for the future between art and places in the process. Tania Kovats ended up making her own Bangladeshi house on of our planet. Nearly 40 per cent The pair’s previous projects include newspaper. She spent the night alone stilts is already sub- of all species rely on freshwater wet- bringing the work of 30 artists into in one of the centre’s bird hides, which When the heavens open, merged; an art deco hotel in lands, but they are declining three times three different National Trust proper- offers a breathtaking vista of the heart Miami is on the brink, and a Victorian faster than forests. “It’s indicative of the ties. Wetlands Unravelled has been in of the wetlands. Her experience was five floating sculptures house in London is 25 centimetres situation we’re in now,” says Harknett, the making since 2017 and was due to profound, documented in detail within release a dazzle of colour above water. It’s a bracing visualisation “where we have to manage what we do, launch the week before the country the pages: the sun sets at 5.48pm and of the reality of the climate crisis, sur- and manage the life that isn’t human went into lockdown. without artificial light she finds that into the surrounding water rounded by blissfully unaware birds. around us — otherwise it’s not going to Despite the headache of the delay, time slows down. “I sit as if I am spell- The final artwork, by Folkestone-based be able to survive.” If acts of creation will when Harknett gives me a tour I can’t bound at the cinema,” she writes. flying overhead. Startling in a different artist Jonathan Wright, interrogates the save us, talking to artists makes a lot of help but feel it’s arriving at a time when “She starts to become part of the envi- way is sculptor Alec Stevens’s That heritage of the wetlands site. Sur- sense. We all need to start using our we’ll appreciate it so much more. Going ronment and lose herself in it, which is Sinking Feeling, a set of three model rounded by water and reeds, it’s a imaginations: our future depends on it. outside is still the main thing stopping incredible,” Harknett says. But of houses made from different types of gleaming gold miniature version of the ⬤⬤Wetlands Unravelled runs from us going doolally this year. course, it isn’t totally pure — every so wood, each installed at a different 18th century Barn Elms Manor House October 1 to August 31, 2021; wwt.org. The artworks range from the deeply often the peace is disrupted by planes height in relation to the water level. A that once existed here, and was home uk; unravelled.org.uk

TONIGHT’S TELEVISION BBC1 BBC2 ITV LONDON LIVE

6.00 BBC News at Six (S,HD); Weather. 6.00 Richard Osman’s House of Games 6.00 ITV News London (S,HD); Weather. 6.00 The Simpsons (R,S). 21/25. 6.00 Faking It. 6.30 BBC London News (S); Weather. (R,S,HD). 36/100. 6.30 ITV Evening News (S,HD); Weather. 6.30 Hollyoaks (R,S,HD). 7.00 May to December. Comedy, about a 7.00 The One Show (S,HD). 6.30 The Farmers’ Country Showdown 7.00 Emmerdale (S,HD). Mandy is eager to 7.00 News (S,HD). middle-aged solicitor who falls in love 7.30 Test and Trace Exposed — Panorama (R,S,HD). 6/20. matchmake Vinny and Liv. 8.00 Inside the Bomb Squad (S,HD). Police with a woman half his age. (S,HD). A report on the Government’s 7.00 The Yorkshire Dales (R,S,HD). 2/3. 7.30 Coronation Street (S,HD). Grace is believe they have found a bomb-making 7.45 May to December. Alec fixes up a lunch new coronavirus tracking system. 7.30 Tom Kerridge: Lose Weight for Good stunned when Michael pops the factory on the Isle of Man. meeting to discuss Zoe’s divorce. 8.05 EastEnders (S,HD). Ian tries to impress (R,S,HD). 6/6. The chef takes the group question. 8.30 Jamie: Keep Cooking Family Comedy, starring Anton Rodgers. a council colleague with his hospitality of dieters on a river cruise to celebrate 8.00 Inside Animal A&E (S,HD). 4/8. A puppy Favourites (S,HD). 7/8. Recipes for 8.30 The Queen’s Cavalry. The armoured skills. their weight loss. is brought in after being hit by a car. fishcakes, an ice-cream dessert and divisions visit Canada for manoeuvres. 8.30 Ghosts (S,HD). 2/6. Alison tries to find out 8.00 Only Connect (S,HD). 2/28. The Bridges 8.30 Coronation Street (S,HD). Michael is peri-peri chicken. Back in London, the trainee troopers why the ghosts are acting so strangely. take on the Whodunnits. dumbfounded when Grace drops a 9.00 Brain Surgeons: Between Life and don their breastplates as the ceremonial 9.00 Freddie Flintoff: Living with Bulimia 8.30 University Challenge (S,HD). 12/37. bombshell. Death (S,HD). In this episode, season begins. (S,HD). The former England cricketer Warwick takes on Wolfson College. 9.00 Honour (S,HD). 1/2. A 20-year-old 30-year-old Dan and 39-year-old Laura 9.00 Queens. 16th-century Europe was a faces up to his eating disorder of 20 9.00 The Shipman Files: a Very British woman is reported missing and DCI must undergo surgery while remaining hotbed of tense international intrigue. years. Crime Story (S,HD). 1/3. New series. Caroline Goode discovers she had been awake, allowing the surgeons to map Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I confront 10.00 BBC News at Ten (S,HD). Chris Wilson re-examines the case of to the police five times to report threats the functioning of their brains. one another on matters religious, 10.30 BBC London News (S); Weather. serial killer Harold Shipman. to life. Drama, starring Keeley Hawes. 10.00 Sex on the Beach (S,HD). A look at political and personal. 10.45 Stand Up for Live Comedy (S,HD). 1/6. 10.00 Mock the Week (R,S,HD). 6/13. 10.00 ITV News at Ten (S,HD); Weather. Gambia’s reputation as a destination for 10.00 UCMMA. Some of the UK’s finest Mixed New series. Showcase for emerging UK 10.30 Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the 10.30 ITV News London (S,HD); Weather. British sex tourists. Martial Arts fighters tear it up in the talent. Lobby (R,HD). 4/6. 10.45 London Zoo: an Extraordinary Year 11.00 999: On the Front Line (R,S,HD). 5/10. cage with intense action from East 11.15 Yung Filly’s Celeb Lock-In (S,HD). 3/3. 10.45 Newsnight (S,HD). Headline analysis. (R,S,HD). 1/2. Caring for animals at the A woman in police custody needs London’s iconic venue, The Troxy. With Wayne and Frankie Bridge. 11.25 Weather (S,HD). height of the pandemic. treatment for collapsed veins. 11.00 British Gangsters: Faces of the 11.40 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 11.30 Women’s Cricket: England v West 11.45 Honour (R,S,HD). 1/2. Fact-based crime 12.00 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (R,S). 12.55 The Great Underworld. (R,S,HD). 9/9. Richard Ayoade hosts, Indies T20 Highlights (S,HD). drama, starring Keeley Hawes. British Bake Off: an Extra Slice (R,S,HD). 1.50 Grayson Perry’s 12.00 Film: One Night in Powder (2015). Comedy, starring with Richard Osman. 12.30 Atlanta (R,S,HD). 12.55 Atlanta (R,S,HD). 1.20 Atlanta 12.35 All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite (S,HD). 1.25 Ideal World Big American Road Trip (R,S,HD). 2.45 This Is Us (R,S,HD). 3.35 Jason Attar. 1.45 Film: Mob Handed (2016). Thriller, starring 12.25 Weather for the Week Ahead (S,HD). 12.30 BBC News (R,S,HD). 1.45 Louis Theroux: Life on the Edge (R,S,HD). 2.45 (HD). 3.00 Parveen’s Indian Kitchen (R,S,HD). 3.50 ITV Building the Dream (R,S,HD). 4.30 Fifteen to One (R,S,HD). 5.25 Yvette Rowland. 3.45 London Districts. 4.00 A Fine (S,HD). Sign Zone (R,S,HD). 5.25 This Is BBC Two (S,HD). Nightscreen (HD). 5.05 Judge Rinder (R,S,HD). Food Unwrapped (R,S,HD). 5.50 Countdown (R,S,HD). Romance. 4.30 A Fine Romance. 5.00 Faking It.