'Many people called the river police'

Stephan Balkenhol

When I was invited by Artangel to participate in the show Doubletake in 1992, I walked through the city, looking for a site for the installation of a sculpture, or an idea for a sculpture. Normally the place - the situation - gives me the idea for sculptures. London is a big capital with a long history, and therefore you find in the streets, on the squares, at houses, bridges, churches a lot of sculptures, which are telling you stories about this history.

It was in vain, looking for an empty spot. I got the impression that every square foot was occupied. I didn't want to add one more sculpture to this crowd of storytellers.

When I came to the River Thames, I was glad to find this huge and silent space, maybe the only 'empty' space of this size in this town - except for the parks.

This 'natural square' or 'natural avenue' immediately inspired me. When I decided to put a sculpture of a human figure (on a buoy) on the river, I didn't think of telling a story again - I just wanted to create a relation between the sculpture and the river. Maybe also between the river and me. An important point is the scale. I didn't want to make a monumental piece in the physical sense. It may be monumental by the 'smallness' of the sculpture in relation to the river, in relation to nature. The big head on the Blackfriars' Bridge isn't really big when you see it from far away. It is a small head in relation to the whole situation, in relation to the architecture around.

I was surprised by the reactions to my sculptures, especially to the buoy piece. Many people called the river police, telling them that someone was standing on the buoy and that he had asked for rescue. Although the figure could have been identified clearly as a sculpture, I think people didn't want to accept what they saw. They were asking for a story, for a meaning as all the other monuments in London have a meaning. They immediately gave nicknames to the big head. And they invented a story, or different stories for the lonesome man on the buoy. Maybe your mind doesn't allow emptiness or meaninglessness... This irritation may be a necessary part of the game: the vacuum is a challenge which makes you go further.