abandoned fishing boats 'wash up' in bristol's leigh woods

abandoned fishing boats ‘wash up’ in bristol’s leigh woods
all images courtesy of luke jerram

deep within the dense, forested landscape of bristol’s leigh woods, luke jerram has installed a surreal and poetic vision for park visitors to experience. passersby and excursionists may be surprised to encounter a small fleet of abandoned fishing boats, sitting amongst the trees and surrounding environment. upon initial confrontation, the installation entitled ‘withdrawn‘, commissioned by the national trust’s trust new art bristol art program, beckons a multitude of questions — how did the boats get here? were they left by a receding tidal surge or a changing coast line? or is this the effect of overfishing which has caused fish stocks to collapse alongside the industry?

a surreal and poetic experience is installed within bristol’s leigh woods

these inevitable curiosities are the responses jerram hopes to incite: I wanted to raise awareness around the decline of the fishing industry in the south west. for several decades, unsustainable fishing practices have caused fish stocks of many species to collapse. with less fish in the sea, it’s often not financially viable to use a small fishing vessel to fish with.’

‘withdrawn’ is also a response to the extreme weather and apocalyptic imagery we’ve seen in the media recently – the floods on the somerset levels last winter and further afield, hurricane katrina and the tsunami in japan, where cars were floating down streets and houses submerged in water. the positioning of these boats in leigh woods presents a similarly uncanny scenario that reminds us of a possible future if we don’t address climate change now.

‘withdrawn’ raises awareness around the decline of the fishing industry

jerram interprets the impact humanity has on our seas through a thought-provoking installation, bringing attention to global issues like climate change, extreme weather, falling fish stocks and our general impact on the marine environment. the artwork draws visitors into the conversation on a personal level as well, connecting them to the histories of each of the boats. their names – ‘gloria jean’, ‘joanne marie’, ‘martha’, ‘seahorse’ and ‘grey gull’ – are intended to conjure up the personalities of previous owners.

passersby and excursionists may be surprised to encounter a small fleet of abandoned fishing boats in the forest