Presentation on Castlethorpe Water Tower - to the people of Castlethorpe 21st February 2013
Near my home stands a disused, neglected water tower, covered in graffiti. I have passed by this tower many times and not really looked at it with any intensity, but one day last year, something about the surface of the tower in the summer sun, caught my attention and I studied it more closely. I became interested in the patterns made by the layers of graffiti and found that zooming in to take a closer look at these marks created some beautiful photographs. Finding myself drawn back again and again to observe the texture of this structure, I lost interest in the man-made marks as I observed that the tower was creating its own patterns and hues due to natural exposure over time. The more I studied the surface of the tower, the more colours and shapes became evident to me. Inspired by these discoveries, I began to view the tower as an object of loveliness, rather than the neglected structure it might seem and it has thus become the inspiration for my final year’s practice.
It has always been important to me to place my work in a public environment and I set myself a big challenge by holding a presentation of my work to the people of my village. My objective was to show the water tower as an art form to people who have seen it hundreds of times and regard it as just a derelict building. In order to engage with my audience I likened parts of the tower to an art movement I hoped most of them would recognise, Impressionism, and included examples.
It seems that my presentation has sparked interest in preserving the water tower. I have been asked to exhibit my practice at an open village weekend in July.

You are invited to
THE WATER TOWER AS AN ART FORM
Thursday 21st February 2013
Castlethorpe Village Hall
Commencing 7.30 pm
A Presentation on the
work in progress by
Art Student
Mimi Tobot
(Michèle Glasgow)
Fruit Juice, Wine and
Savouries
For further details contact:
mimitobot@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/MimiTobot
Images from the presentation
Click the image above to scroll through the presentation