Fleet

Just as the sun was falling out the sky one winter Friday, we happened to be leaving Minchella's after a particularly brilliant brownie sundae. We scooped by The Conversation Piece at South Shields, locally affectionately known as The Weebles. Someone had knitted them all winter warmer hats. How funny. I love a human response to art.

We curled the corner down to where the old Market Dock used to be on the Tyne. I love how close-knit both South and North Shields are at this point; like if your arms were long enough, you could reach over to the Fish Quay and pick up a bag of chips but eat them in South Shields. Maybe only if you were Mr Tickle!

We had a little look at the houses and a nod to The Spirit of South Shields with her spanking shiny gold ship in hand, and in turning to get back in the car, we spotted this sleek and stylish South Tyneside armada.

Fleet is a series of silver sailing ships created by artist Irene Brown in 2004. How cool and niche is that, to live in the equivalent of a cul de sac on sea; a small area that was once a dry dock of the Brigham and Cowan Shipyard and for it to be afloat with collier brigs. It was beautiful, just as the light was fading and a reminder of how significantly art can contribute to the everyday of life. I'd love to wake up each morning to look at this little flotilla from my front room.

The stainless steel sculptures are afloat in an enclosed area of water, which is cut off from the Tyne. The seven silver ships reflect the comings and goings of the weather, the distorted images of passing traffic and people, and the scudding clouds and nighttime stars in the sky. They look as if they're preparing to leave the Tyne and float to far off places.

The ships themselves are based on the very collier ships which would have transported coal to cities like London. Water was the cheapest way to shift such bulk, and keelmen were paid per tide.

If you look closely, there's a common theme running through Fleet and Spirit of South Shields, in that the ships in each set of sculptures are based on the same design. Raise your eyes to the skies too and check out the weather vane on top of the Town Hall. Snap, it's the same. A nod to the seafaring past of South Tyneside and the basis of what the town of South Shields is afloat on, all designed by Irene Brown.

Brown, who describes herself as a 'sculptor and site-specific installationist' (try saying that after a sweet sherry) says of her work:

“I continue to explore the potential of art to reinterpret and represent historical information in a manner that engages and stimulates 'wonder' in the viewer, producing new artworks for specific sites of historical and scientific interest.”

Wonder is the very word I'd choose to express my sentiments about this artwork. I didn't set out to see it. I just stumbled across it. It wasn't what I expected, nor what I'd anticipate in the centre of an urban housing development. For me, that's what makes art so alluring. That it has possibilities to draw the observer in and experience something they didn't expect, but makes them take away something to elaborate on and explore, giving a higher significance to the location, its past function and the heritage stamp it's left on the land and people.

I love too that time changes everything, and where once this was a busy hubbub of industry and employment, taking coals from Newcastle, then a dry dock with tools clanking to the sound of repair and maintenance, this fleet now sits silently, anchored, going nowhere, but a gentle reminder of the history and heritage which kept the Tyne afloat for so long. I love this image of comparison from The Chronicle.

As I retraced my steps with my curiosity quenched, another reminder of a change in the Tyne's legacy roved through the dark February river - The ferry to Amsterdam. Bigger than everything, awash with intrepid travellers and hauliers taking more than coal from the north to the Netherlands and beyond.