By the River Don

I think I've blipped these sculptures in the River Don once before. So far, I haven't managed to do them justice, in terms of photos; it's a work in progress. I need to spend more time down there, watching how the light changes and seeing what they're like with the water at different heights. And ideally getting into the river itself, while it's low, so that I can get closer and see them at river level, rather than from above.  For now, there are three samples here.  This morning was a little practice run; I had dropped the car off early for its MOT, and took advantage of the sunshine to wander along the river bank in town.

Anyway... these are pieces of work done by Daniel Bustamante, a local artist, using objects he finds in the river.  They tend to come and go with the river conditions. Last winter I thought they were gone forever; there were stormy times when the river was running high and fast, and it looked as though the work had all been swept away. But this summer I saw that the pieces were back; either they had been temporarily rescued, or they had simply fallen over and then been put back up again in situ.

I like the 'coming and going' quality of these slender columns, and the way that they stand out in some lights, and almost blend into invisibility in others.  Sheffield city centre is a real jumble (see main photo).  It bears the marks of so many stop-start regeneration initiatives; 18th and 19th century industrial buildings jostle next to brightly-coloured tall blocks and built-off-the-peg hotels... alongside expanses of buddleia where something has been demolished and not replaced. It is a scarred city, and nowhere more clearly than in this part of town, where the big outdoor and indoor markets used to be.

The River Don, though, is healthier than it has been in centuries; both salmon and otters have been seen along its banks locally.