"Tied to Tide", Pirrama Park, Pyrmont

This is an artwork located in Pirrama Park at Pyrmont. The artists are Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford.

This is what they say:

"The winds and waters of Sydney Harbour choreograph a lively performance of maverick planks and renegade ladders between the boardwalk and the seawall at Pyrmont Point Park.

Tied To Tide is a kinetic artwork activated by the natural forces of tide, wave and wind. Hinged to the boardwalk, floating planks and airborne ladders combine with the ever-changing elements to perform an aquatic dance on the harbour. Conceptually, the artwork adopts and transforms the maritime language of the site’s timber boardwalk and access ladders. Free of their prosaic constraints, they play with rather than stand against nature. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary as timber boards hover over the water balancing tilting ladders like unwieldy acrobats in a harbourside circus.

Connected by a float to the water, the timber beams translate the eternal return of the tides. High tide lowers the beams whilst low tide raises them skyward. They bob gently on calm waters and dance staccato in a choppy swell. The wash of passing boats unwittingly choreographs sequences of frenzied motion. 

Vibrant maritime-orange ladders pivot in a seemingly impossible balance at the end of timber beams. They offer a metaphor for journey, collaborating with the elements to inspire a reverie of the imagination. A breeze gently sways them whereas wild gusts will spin them through 360 degrees.

Tied to Tide elucidates the complexities of nature through its simple engineering. Its interconnected axis create a myriad of responses to the action of tide, wave and wind. It is an installation in a constant state of flux, endlessly transforming itself with the elemental forces of Sydney Harbour."

Website