This week I was invited to Rochford in Essex. As part of a major program of regeneration of the Thames Gateway artists are being commissioned to produce new public artworks in a series of sites in the area. My name was put forward and I somehow got short listed to make a public artwork for Rochford Reservoir. I was asked to look at the site and present an initial response to an interview panel of artists, curators and members of the local community.

The reservoir has duck and a few fish and a miniture railway runs by the reservoir. It is in a sleepy little Essex town, maybe it is not the most exciting place but it is quite a pleasant place.

I think my name was suggested because Bob & Roberta Smith who is curating the project wanted me to do something like Frogstock on the site, except rather than involving local musicians, he wanted me to involve the local fishermen and miniature steam railway enthusiasts. He wanted Frogsteam

I don’t have any firm ideas about what I want to do. I don’t want to just impose some great monolith on the place anyway, I would rather work with the local community to create something they actually want that will improve the place for them.

The reservoir is not a bad place, there are some things that need a little sorting out such as the gated entrances and getting the miniature railway in more use, but the place already has some appeal that should not be spoilt.

The park is regularly used by dog walkers, fishermen and parents who take the kids down to see the ducks. I spoke to a few of them to see what they might want some one to do and the main suggestion I was asked to put forward on behalf of the fishermen was more fish! It was also suggested that I could involve the ducks in the art project somehow. I tried to charm some of the duck into talking to me by singing some duck themed songs from the bank, but they didn’t seem interested.

People I spoke to who do not have dogs, or children or a fishing rod are not so bothered about the place – it’s nice but they don’t use it. But some of those people didn’t really seem to like going out anywhere very much.

However, in conversation with the Tea Ladies from the Beehive Café I discovered Rochford had a serious social problem created by gangs who wreak fear in the local community. There a lot of bored children in Rochford aged 10 –13 hanging around the town. Their boredom is not only a problem for them but also for everyone else in the town because they have nothing to do apart from hanging around the town square making a nuisance of themselves.

As you can see from the video I didn’t deal with very well with the 12 year old self-proclaimed ganstas of Rochford. I also made the mistake of giving them my business card to prove I was an artist and not child molester. Since then I have since been receiving nuisance telephone messages of swearing.

The kids do have interests that could be cultivated using the reservoir, be that fishing, bicycles, miniature railways, gangster rap or swearing.

Rounding up all the kids in the reservoir (I mean the reservoir area I wasn’t suggesting we just drown them all) could also be a problem because hordes of kids in tracksuits could be quite threatening to all the fishermen and dog walkers.

I am quite threatened by kids in tracksuits as 2 of them put me in hospital a when I was mugged week and a half ago. Though the kids in tracksuit in Rochford are younger and I could much more easily beat them in a fight, if they are not put on the straight and narrow they could become a bigger problem later.

The kids do need to be dealt with sensitively, you can’t just go in there and tell them what to do, they won’t listen and they will think you are a teacher and want nothing to do with it. My total lack of authority over children could perhaps even be an advantage.

The kids could somehow be put in a position where they become a valued part of the local community rather than being alienated from it.

They need to feel responsible involvement in the project. If they feel responsible they will also perhaps be less likely to vandalise the whole thing later on.

At the interview I was asked to present my initial response to the site, here it is, incorporating the local interest in both Gangsta Rap and fishing :