Gayle Chong Kwan’s The Golden Tide peruses the flotsam and jetsam of the river, and traces how the images of the objects that she finds there later wash up online. Following the course of the River Thames from London Bridge through the creeks and marshes of North Kent towards its furthermost estuarine reaches around Margate, Chong Kwan records small-scale, everyday beachings – each isolated item adding to a steady stream of digital snapshots uploaded to the digital photo app, Instagram. From these random encounters, Chong Kwan selects a number of beguiling or noteworthy images, which she collages together into a ‘myriorama’ – its antiquated form echoing the muted ‘archival’ patina of Instagram’s trademark look. These images will be printed as a series of posters, and fly posted on the outside of London’s Jerwood Space, where they too will be left to weather over time.

This project was commissioned as part of the group project Our Mutual Friends