In 1996, Jules Wright, the founder of The Wapping Project, commissioned Anya Gallaccio to create a new work for the then still derelict Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. Jules first met Anya at the Royal Court Theatre where Anya worked as a dresser before enrolling at Goldsmiths, University of London. Jules was then Artistic Director of the Theatre Upstairs and Associate Director of the Royal Court.
Intensities and Surfaces was a 32-tonne block of ice with a hunk of rock salt eating into placed within the the Boiler House of the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. The block of ice took over three months to melt.
The piece was a gamble and an experiment as no knew how long the ice would take to melt. An early testimony to the daring spirit of The Wapping Project.
