Gangles (Alcedo)

2018

200m paracord, hook plates, pre-existing fixings and holes. Having observed a kingfisher near the APT on Deptford Creek, and later encountering Clyde Hopkins's reference to a kingfisher at his recent funeral, this avian's darting and elusive reputation has become the focus of Riley's latest string installation Gangles (Alcedo). The movements of this 'psychedelic' interloper are gestured at by stretched polychromatic paracords; orange, cyan and brown like the bird itself. The contact points or fixings of the paracords are old, recent and new, alluding to a movement through time. Riley continues to pursue a sense of extra dimensional space with illegitimate constructs. In this space a dismantled body is not necessarily dead. Excerpt from Deptford Waterfowl Guide, Clyde Hopkins (1946-2018) Kingfisher Small brightly coloured bird With sharp beak and tongue Introduced into UK along with Psychedelic drugs. Usually seen Just after it has gone. Eats fish, chips, mushy peas.