This is a delicate and evocative audio journey which takes us through Bristol Central Library on a search for Ariel, the subject of a series of photos found and fallen in love with by artist Tatton-Brown in an antiques shop. The language is imagistic and associative and the narrator has a charming warmth of tone, hinting at intimacy, mystery, and pleasure. The effect of the headphones in an already quiet environment creates a pleasant distance between us and the physical world.

The work is suffused with the poetry of another age, a lost elegance and simplicity. We see love as a life’s work and the artist’s own search for connection and communication through the fragile traces of a life seen through physical fragments, official documents, and the memories of others. What might have been ephemeral becomes central and we are lead towards an understanding of a couple who might otherwise have never existed for us.

The library itself is a potent character in the piece, we see obsolete pulley systems, secret dusty archives. There is a sense that something living has passed into obscurity as the knowledge accumulated in those books sits passively, paint cracks and wooden stairs creak beneath us. A few details need more attention: the moment of revelation where we see the images that inspired the piece is hampered slightly by their small size, albeit on a delightfully presented screen. I was hungry to see the detail of faces and gestures but it wasn’t easy enough here. In a piece where every interaction has been so carefully considered these details stand out, just as the actor’s shirt being crumpled felt disappointing.

I was profoundly moved by the final section where we glimpse the ideals of the creator of those photos. This is a show about love made with love. A re-discovery of and search for a powerful connection which once existed and is now reborn for us.