Northfield's New Canon [Tricia England]

Installed on a bridge adjacent to Northfield, Minnesota’s Bridge Square on a fiercely blustery day in late April, 2008, “Northfield’s New Canon” probes the opaque relationship(s) between natural progressions and human “progress.” In particular, it draws a contrast between the natural, inevitable movement of the Canon River’s current, and the current suburbanization of the greater Northfield area.

To achieve this effect, photographs of rural, semi-rural, historical, and corporate Northfield, respectively, were strung onto a long polyprene rope, which was then tied to the bridge and allowed to trail into the water, to be animated by the river’s movement. The photographs were ordered so that a person standing on the bridge could easily see the corporate images, but had to tow in the rope in order to clearly view the rural images that struggled in the aggressive current.  To attract pedestrian attention, a configuration of photos on the bridge rail structure marked the location of the piece.

With natural elements lending motion to artificial elements, “Northfield’s New Canon” complicates viewers’ perceptions of progress(ion) and causality. While the onward rushing motion of the river is a necessity on windy day, the actual carrying away of our view of natural and rural spaces is not a natural necessity, but a human construction. It is up to viewers to decide how much this new construction really benefits our community.