FLOW is an artwork by Owl Project, based on a concept by North East based artist Ed Carter.
 
FLOW is an environmentally sustainable floating waterwheel and mill house. Entering the mill house will be like entering a quirky turn of the century workshop, a workshop from a parallel universe where basic electronics, wood and water replace metal and steam, creating an accessible and interactive art space on the River Tyne. The artwork will generate its own power and combine traditional and new technologies to monitor the river’s environmental details including water temperature, speed, and turbidity. A series of Owl Project musical instruments on display in the mill house, will respond to this data. The audience will be able to interact with these instruments, performing alongside each other and the Tyne itself.
 
FLOW takes its inspiration directly from the north east and the changes in local industry. The artists will look at the symbiotic relationship between the river and local industry and will trace the river from industrialisation through to the cleaner, flourishing river benefiting the increase in cultural industry developing on the river bank.
 
Owl Project and Ed Carter will work John Kellett of Clearwater Mills, a specialist in floating mill technologies; Amenity Space, an environmentally friendly arts and architecture design company; AV Festival; and the Climate Change Schools Project, who work with schools and a range of organisations such as the Environment Agency to put climate and environment issues into the heart of the curriculum.

Owl Project is a collaborative group of Manchester based artists who share interests in human interaction with technology and process led art. The group currently consists of Simon Blackmore, Antony Hall and Steve Symons. Over the last few years they have become known for a distinctive range of wooden musical and sculptural instruments that critique human interaction with computer interfaces and our increasing appetite for new and often disposable technologies.
 
Ed Carter is a musician as well as a curator and producer, and will be acting as producer for FLOW. Ed has managed a range of projects with a focus on digital, media, audio and public art, and releases music under the name Winter North Atlantic. He relocated to the north east in 2008.