Hudson River Project on Nowness.com.
Kayaking might be pushing the action sports remit of Looking Sideways to the limit, but adventurer, designer and all-round creative dynamo James Bowthorpe’s latest project is definitely worth talking about.
For his Hudson River Project, Bowthorpe plans to construct a kayak from refuse collected in New York and then row it the entire 315 mile length of the Hudson River. Why? “We see cities as something separate from the wilderness, but the former evolved from the latter. I’m interested in the idea of how we set up these diametrically opposed states of mind” says James. “The Hudson River Project plays to this cyclic idea, charting the path that helped to build the megalopolis”.
The Project will be filmed this year, and the resulting film will feature an original soundtrack by Mogwai. Bowthorpe has form in this area, both in previous epic journeys (like his 174 day circumnavigation of the globe by bike or a previous kayaking mission down the Thames), and in his bespoke reclaimed design work which pushes the upcycling thing as far as it’ll go. We’ll be keeping an eye on his progress for sure.