Flow and return

Flow and Return was commissioned by the Lowry as part of the Art of White exhibition curated by Clive Adams. The exhibition explored artist's use of the color white and included works by artists such as Lowry, Turner, Constable, Nash, Doig, Auerbach, Creed, and Ryman.
Drawing on experiences from the Bonnington Gallery. Flow and Return was developed over a 6-month period. Specifically designed for the upper gallery at the Lowry, the system, like Rising Main, pumped paint around a circular system of pipes to two fabricated aluminium panels that hung on the gallery wall. Through research and in collaboration with fabricators, engineers and plumbing experts the panels were designed to contain two internal reservoirs engineered to flood paint through laser cut holes down the panels' surface to the collection troughs below. With extensive investigation a peristaltic pump was loaned through sponsorship, this sophisticated pump, used medically and in food manufacturing, guaranteed that the paint could be continually moved through the system. The paint was specifically produced with fewer drying agents so as to keep the paint fluid for longer. Flow and Return used 30 metres of copper pipe to carry 25 gallons of emulsion paint. The system ran for 8 weeks at an average rate of 0.3 litres of paint per minute.