Erme is a new public artwork by Close and Remote created for Ivybridge and the River Erme landscape as part of the Rivers and Moorland Festival 2026. The project combines a large-scale installation across the footbridge in the centre of Ivybridge with a freely accessible web app that encourages people to explore the river through walking, observation, mapping, and shared stories.

Stretching across 100 bridge posts, the installation traces the entire journey of the River Erme from Erme Head on Dartmoor to the estuary at Mothecombe. An orange contour line marks the changing height of the river above sea level, turning the bridge into a long unfolding drawing of the landscape. The work transforms an otherwise practical public structure into a place of curiosity and encounter - somewhere that invites people to pause, follow the line and think about the river moving through the town and beyond.

Alongside the physical installation, the Erme web app opens up the wider landscape through walks, videos, maps, and location-based material created with local communities and schools. Visitors can use the project while standing on the bridge itself, while walking sections of the river, or remotely from home. The digital element allows the work to extend far beyond the immediate site, connecting people to places along the river they may never have visited before.

For Walk Two you can listen to Danielle Semple, Engagement and Communications Officer with the Woodland Trust. She shares with us insights into the nature in the woods and the unseen work of the Woodland Trust to maintain and enhance Longtimber Woods. For Walk Three, around the bridges of Ivybridge, listen to Victor Abbott as he shares his historical knowledge of the town.

The project has been designed to be highly accessible and easy to use. The web app requires no download or specialist knowledge - users simply visit the website or scan a QR code from the bridge installation to begin exploring. This low barrier to entry was an important part of the artists’ thinking, ensuring the work remains open to a broad public audience across different ages and levels of mobility.

For some visitors, Erme may begin as a physical encounter with the artwork in Ivybridge before becoming a series of walks and discoveries along the river itself. For others, the experience may remain entirely digital: exploring maps, watching films, and following the river virtually from home. In both cases, the work encourages a deeper awareness of the relationship between landscape, water, movement, and community.

Erme responds directly to the of themes of landscape, ecology, access, and connection to place. The project creates a contemporary way of engaging with Dartmoor and the river environment, combining public art, digital technology, walking culture, and local participation. By linking a visible public installation with an open and exploratory online platform, Close and Remote have created a work that is both rooted in a specific location and accessible far beyond it.

‘Erme’ has been specially commissioned for the Rivers and Moorland Festivals, a series of community-focused events held over five years in the three towns of Ivybridge, Okehampton and Princetown. ‘Erme’ was installed during the first festival in Ivybridge in June 2026.

The Rivers and Moorland Festivals are part of Dartmoor’s Dynamic Landscapes; a partnership of organisations working together to help people better understand, conserve and connect with Dartmoor and its communities. The programme brings together 15 projects with a geographical focus on Ivybridge and the rivers Erme and Yealm; Princetown and the River Dart; Okehampton and the Okement rivers.

THANKS
The artwork is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund and generous support from Arts Council England. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to present this commission. The commissions were also supported by the Environment Agency and the Woodland Trust. 'Erme' is sited with thanks to Glanville's Mill Shopping Centre and LCP UK. With thanks to Emergency Exit Arts, Flock and Ivybridge Town Council.
Close and Remote would like to thank Victor Abbott for sharing his walk research, and for taking them for a walk! And also Danielle Semple for sharing her love of nature and the work of the Woodland Trust.