'The Basin': The Emergency [Draft 1.0]

 

All Images: Bristol Floating Harbour, February 2023 - August 2025

[Reconfigured Appropriated Texts]

Helicopter downdraft suddenly whips the surface - called-in from a remote control centre. The air rattles as gaudy vehicles rapidly assemble [The unit should be brightly coloured and response times are a critical factor]. Concrete is electrified in blue. The routines must be enacted according to each specific risk-assessment and there are also electronic systems available to help speed up and automatically record audit information. According to protocol, the immediate environment is surveyed for hazards and all control measures implemented. 5G technology has been placed around the water at specific ‘trigger’ entry points. It’s obvious something sinister is going on!

All rescue equipment should perform with low latency if deployed correctly. It may also be doughnut shaped. Inflatables are launched and key personnel take up a watching brief at decision points in pathways. Static crackles over radios and shouts are diced by the rotors. With all agencies represented, smart connectivity can make an immediate and positive impact on people’s lives, but sadly, we've turned peoples' deaths into memes over here, instead of sending a message. The line must be able to float, be highly visible and have a maximum length of 25m plus any expected maximum drop. It should also have little or no memory [a full version can be found at the back of the manual to photocopy and laminate].

There is a LOT of water, and is both hazardous and potentially toxic [short-term E-Coli levels in water can be caused by storm water runoff, which can carry with it animal faecal matter]. Metallic waves reveal nothing - but what lies beneath? volunteers have recovered a motorbike, novelty Christmas clothing, bikes, and an inflatable sex doll amongst other things. Extreme temperatures may freeze all good intentions, and probably give you cold water shock. That can cause you to gasp for breath, inhale water or panic, and can lead to drowning. Once unearthed or disconnected, we are easily lost at sea. Hidden currents can make it difficult to swim back to shore, even for the strongest swimmers. Stretch out your arms and legs. Lie back in the water.

The Basin collects lives as well as time. Complete drainage is of course possible, and the ROV is fitted with advanced sonar technology - enabling it to pinpoint individuals in reduced visibility. The methodology utilised provides a novel, useful, and relatively economical tool for future monitoring, but the service has not purchased the ROV and bodies may still drift far from understanding [all are subject to the daily flushings]. One of many reviews has been from a tidal expert, who recommended additional areas we could search further up.

That search goes on to no avail. Definitive tragedy is suspended. Localised mystery blurs into folklore and online theory. So-called psychics have climbed on board offering nothing beyond crackpot suggestions which merely muddy the already muddy waters. The investigation is subject to complaint, but our drone unit has been deployed 16 times during the searches carried out to date. Furthermore, each report is carefully assessed and triaged by detectives from our investigation team. We have detected the obscure impression of a lone CCTV wanderer, intoxicated and entrapped by the system in the early hours. He passes  from one camera to another, struggling for focus. Momentarily, he gathers a little resolution, but is mostly a phantom trudging through static, snow and pixels. This footage is grainy and taken from a distance, however due to the timing, the location and the family’s views, we accept the new hypothesis. Zoom-in, push the image, study it once more.

The system becomes a maze after dark. It’s very dark, and when it is dark, it’s pitch black. In my mind, down there is a very unsavoury area [specifically, the second poorly-lit bridge area]. Few pass, fewer still lurk in the darkest wedges [motives are best left alone there]. The last call was truncated and the phone subsequently stifled, but we have carried out enquiries regarding the AirTag. Sadly, there is no data for this, due to there being no connection to a named personal account. A taxi out, then? - or some other, more dangerous ride? [there is ‘no evidence’ suggesting a serial killer is at loose, but 28 deaths remain unexplained]. Family members retrace the route with torches. As you go around this corner, it’s really not pleasant, but without love, where would we be right now? Circle the perimeter, cross the bridges, then spiral back down [he must have just thought, "How the hell am I going to get out of here?"]. A young man’s cloned face haunts the Basin, gazing across from multiple vantage points. The surface remains impassive. We wish for a happy ending, or at worst - a probability scale to make a proportionate judgement.

Written without A.I. [For better or worse]

'The Basin': Art Trail 4 - Calligraphic Cave Art [Draft 1.0]

 

All Images: Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2023 - April 2024

[Reconfigured Appropriated Texts]:

Our situation today is to break down a door of knowledge hidden behind society, and the accreted scrawling at this site do appear to represent a cursive recuperation and remembrance of this forgetting. The axiom that rock art is notoriously difficult to date serves only to paint a partial picture of the inconsistent and contested chronological records, now that pigments and other materials can often be precisely dated with scientific techniques [e.g. Radiocarbon Dating or Accelerator Mass Spectometry]. What is incontestable is that the stylings identify as ‘Heritage Wild’ - a form of debased mannerism in which hardcore war went down, with markers against markers and letters against letters [pictograms are largely absent here]. Those who paused long enough performed a signature encoding, possibly hiding in a bush before run-ups, and the neural networking that occurs when we find ourselves creating in real time is none other than hyperspace. The inscriptions demonstrate stylistic evolution, from early blocking/balooning strategies to more refined flourishes [often ambiguous in terms of their general form]. They prioritise linear over polychromatic effects, using paints that scar, engine enamel, or - at the very least, matt black, punctuated with accents of white, red and yellow. Spray will go on everything when formulated with egg albumen, urine, blood, saliva or water, and an understanding of nozzle control apparently emerges early, even in primitive cultures.

Entropy prevails and accurate prediction of concrete aging must factor-in an innovative method, leveraging machine learning techniques [employing seven algorithms]. It isn't too long before concrete structures begin to show signs of aging and deterioration. In this sheltered location, the dressing and crisp junctures endure, and reduced ultra-violet levels within the cavern limit the fades. Nevertheless, time is fluid. The flows are inescapable, as is the case throughout. Their flux-value denotes the fraction of variance in the response feature that can be elucidated by the regression model. Chemical agents, such as acids and alkalis can also react. Extensive seepages are clearly defined with their various origin points and courses traceable through routine inspections and thorough documentation of residual beauty [both sub-aquatic and profound]. Note that he choice was made to exclude observations with missing value [editing phase]. The stainings and leachings originate in  elevated run-off, but prefigure a greater liquid deteritorialisation through the rising of the levels [see draft mitigation proposals]. Condemnation awaits in suspension, particularly concerning chloride penetration.

The original system discouraged footfall, raising questions over the site’s actual function. It is not a matter of heritage policies only, but often involves other sectors. Some see it as a sacred location, accessed with deliberation and specifically set aside as the venue for a vast theoretical project developed over a lifetime that was mythos, cosmology and philosophical system all rolled into one. Others assert more direct territorial imperatives [the pissing of the nozzle, ancient hominid flag-planting, etc]. It is also impossible to overlook urban, educational, legislative, criminal, and other policies. These views are far from antithetical and non are precluded  by drifting approaches. When dealing with the data gathering, a special interest should be placed on the content and possible motivation [possibly no more complex than a 2 year-old child that hasn’t learnt to share yet]. Certainly, the location of identity may be a particularly sacred tenet within the cultural branching represented, but over-coding is ceaseless in either event. Maybe ‘they’ should have tried some poems or something. Interestingly, we also see some cancellation attempts, constituting an interim palimpsestic erasure stage in the overall cycle. Light colours such as white or magnolia take at least two coats to cover and some products can be very strong and cause permanent damage. You have to find your way around, and deal with strange plants, predators and prey, but any visitors prepared to linger at the site [particularly those viewing the artwork under the flickering blue light of some magical  emergency] will continue to take pictures, analyse and publicly ridicule.

Written without A.I. [For better or worse]