And ever again…is an installation within the ticket hall of Middlesbrough railway station. The focal point is a film where time flickers between the past and the present, reflecting and celebrating the 147 year old history of the station.
Archival and contemporary photographs are seamlessly woven together – slipping between decades as they dissolve in and out of focus through a haze of steam. The film reveals that while much has changed over time, many things remain the same – trains still come and go, passengers still wait on platforms, tickets still get sold.
Still images are interspersed with filmed cutaways of distinct architectural features that define the visual identity of the station, drawing attention to the overlooked craftsmanship and history embedded within the fabric of the building. The imagery is accompanied by an ambient soundtrack which draws from familiar sounds of the station.
Steam is a central motif within the film, a direct reference to the origins of the railway and the power behind the early engines that drove the development of industry in the late 19th century. The atmosphere of the film spills out into the wider space as a plume of steam wraps around the surrounding glass panelling and windows of the ticket hall. Based on early etchings of steam trains and made to appear like traditional etched glass windows, a subtle intervention that responds to the changing light conditions of the space.
Catherine Bertola is an artist and Senior Lecturer at Teesside University. Her work responds to specific sites, collections and historic contexts, looking beyond the surface of everyday objects and buildings, to uncover and reanimate invisible histories of places and people as a way of reframing the past and considering the present.