Lateral ArtSpace

“In my hometown, where the city meets the forest, people find themselves in an almost ritually circumstance.

The wellheads at the edge of the city offer to the community the opportunity to relive this sacred gesture of going towards the water.

As common as it may seem for the ones that go there regularly, the strangest it looks for the unfamiliar eye. Together with the sources, the water devotees become part of the peripheral scenery of the city.” – the artist


“Water is life. It’s a fact, not an affirmation. It represents a basic need. Therefore, in our culture, our civilized society, there’s water at the push of a button, twist of a knob. But even pretty distant from running water, between the slopes of mountains, where my grandma’ used to have a house, water was never too far away, wells were three or four meters deep. No wonder I took it so much for granted. I learned my lesson later, in the plains, down South. Wells were 20 meters deep, and even more. You couldn’t see the bottom of the pit but you could hear the bucket hitting the base. You would reach out half a bucket of water with sand at the bottom.

In Lucian Bran’s almost self explanatory tilted body of work ( Back to wellhead) , the scenario is somehow predictable. The setting is always the suburbs, the periphery, civilization being nearby. You can see the buildings not that far away, you can see people with their plastic canisters, standing out. Some made a little effort to get there. Why do they go there (why don’t we)? For the landscape? The walk? Is the water worth it? With this being said, although appearing romantic by form, the series is not at all romantic by nature.” – Lucian Indrei