A Slice of Reality — Richard Wilson
Sliced section of the sand dredger Arco Trent by Richard Wilson, 2000 · Greenwich Peninsula, London, UK
Photo: It’s No Game / Flickr via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), 19 May 2018 (camera date), the same photo as in the Street Art Utopia post. Full photograph shown; resized for display.
Richard Wilson acquired the ocean-going sand dredger Arco Trent and carved out a vertical section, a one-eighth slice that stands permanently on the Thames foreshore with its living quarters and engine room open to view and to the weather. The Line · Greenwich Peninsula Checked Photographs taken in February 2024 and January 2025 show it still in place. Gareth James / Geograph, 14 Feb 2024 · DS Pugh / Geograph, 8 Jan 2025 Checked
5 things to know
- One eighth of a shipThe Line, the art walk the work belongs to, calls it “a 1/8th slice of what was originally the Arco Trent, an ocean-going sand dredger”. The Line · Greenwich Peninsula Checked
- Opened up on purposeWilson cut the section to expose the living quarters and engine room, “both visually and to the elements”. Wikipedia adds that a pool table can be seen on a lower deck. The Line Checked Wikipedia Reported
- A millennium commissionIt was commissioned for the North Meadow Sculpture Project in celebration of the millennium, by The New Millennium Experience Company. The Line · Wikipedia Checked
- The ship before the sliceAccording to Wikipedia, the Arco Trent was built at Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon in 1971 and scrapped in Middlesbrough in 1999. Wikipedia Reported
- A listening postFrom 30 September to 21 November 2021, Jem Finer’s Sonic Ray for Artangel sent the music of Longplayer by light from the Faraday lighthouse on Trinity Buoy Wharf to a temporary listening post aboard the sculpture. Artangel, Sonic Ray, 2021 Checked
Where it is
- 📍
- On the Thames foreshore at Olympian Way, on the north-western bank of the Greenwich Peninsula near The O2, beside the riverside path. Around 51.5041, −0.0004. Greenwich Peninsula · Wikipedia · Gareth James / Geograph, 14 Feb 2024 Checked
- 👀
- Free to see from the Thames Path; Google’s April 2021 Street View from the path shows the cut face up close. Google Street View, Apr 2021 · DS Pugh / Geograph, 8 Jan 2025 Checked
Sightings
- 2000
Commissioned for the millennium · The Line
- 201819 May
Our photo, from the river
- 2021Apr
Google Street View from the path
- 202130 Sep
Sonic Ray listening post opens · Artangel
- 202414 Feb
Photographed by Gareth James
- 2024
REVEIL live sound stream from the ship
- 20258 Jan
Photographed by DS Pugh
Every stamp links to its source. Green stamps are dated photographs of the sliced ship in place (the 2018 date is the camera date; the Street View is dated to the month). Amber stamps are records and events: the 2000 commission, Artangel’s 2021 Sonic Ray listening post, and the REVEIL 2024 sound stream from the sculpture, whose page gives no day.
On the record
Richard Wilson: A Slice of Reality, 2000
“Standing permanently on the foreshore of the Thames, this sculpture is a 1/8th slice of what was originally the Arco Trent, an ocean-going sand dredger.”
Sonic Ray, a project by Jem Finer
“Sonic Ray encoded the sound of Longplayer into the light source and transmitted it at the speed of light from the Faraday lighthouse on Trinity Buoy Wharf, to the opposite bank of the river, creating a new temporary listening post aboard Richard Wilson’s nautical sculpture Slice of Reality, on the Greenwich peninsula foreshore.”
A Slice of Reality, Greenwich peninsula, River Thames
“The sliced ship remains open to interpretation and weathering, tides continue to rise and fall and River Thames flows to and fro about her exposed belly.”
From the stream notes by Blanc Sceol (Stephen Shiell and Hannah White), whose live sound stream was located on the sculpture.
The facts
- Title
- A Slice of Reality; Artangel also calls it Slice of Reality. The Line · Greenwich Peninsula · Artangel, Sonic Ray, 2021 Checked
- Artist
- Richard Wilson (born 1953, London), British sculptor known for architectural interventions. The Line Checked
- Year
- 2000, the year The Line, Artangel and Wikipedia give; the artist’s own page is headed 2015 but its address says 2000, so we take 2015 as a listing date. The Line · Artangel, Sonic Ray, 2021 · Wikipedia · Richard Wilson (artist’s site) Checked
- Place
- Thames foreshore, Olympian Way, Greenwich Peninsula, London. Greenwich Peninsula · The Line Checked
- Medium
- Sliced vertical section of the sand dredger Arco Trent; the artist’s page says the ship was reduced in length by 85%. The Line · Greenwich Peninsula · Richard Wilson (artist’s site) Checked
- Size
- 21.34 × 10.6 × 8.84 m, according to The Line; Wikipedia gives the slice as 9 metres. The Line · Wikipedia Reported
- Commissioner
- The New Millennium Experience Company, for the North Meadow Sculpture Project. The Line Checked
- Status
- Seen in place on 8 January 2025, the newest dated photograph we found; also photographed on 14 February 2024. DS Pugh / Geograph, 8 Jan 2025 · Gareth James / Geograph, 14 Feb 2024 Checked
- Our photo
- It’s No Game, from Flickr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, taken 19 May 2018 (camera date). It’s No Game / Wikimedia Commons, 19 May 2018 Checked
Related
- Buildings That Won’t Behave (10 Photos): the SAU collection with this work
All sources (11)
Official
- The Line: “Richard Wilson, A Slice of Reality, 2000”, undated artist page. 1/8th slice of the Arco Trent; 21.34 x 10.6 x 8.84 m; living quarters and engine room exposed; North Meadow Sculpture Project; commissioned by The New Millennium Experience Company.
- Greenwich Peninsula: “A Slice of Reality”, undated listing. Location Olympian Way, London; the same description as The Line; part of The Line art walk.
- Artangel: “Sonic Ray”, a project by Jem Finer, 30 September – 21 November 2021. A temporary listening post aboard the sculpture; Finer and Wilson’s works both commissioned in 2000.
Artist
- Richard Wilson: “Slice of Reality”, the artist’s own page, with a short documentary video. The ship was reduced in length by 85%, leaving the bridge, poop, accommodation and engine room exposed to weather and tide; the page is headed 2015 though its address says 2000.
Press
- Wikipedia: “A Slice of Reality”. 9 m section of the 800-ton Arco Trent; pool table on a lower deck; built at Appledore in 1971, scrapped in Middlesbrough in 1999; coordinates.
- REVEIL 2024 streams: “A Slice of Reality, Greenwich peninsula, River Thames”, Blanc Sceol (Stephen Shiell and Hannah White), 2024. A live sound stream located on the sculpture.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: “A Slice of Reality by Richard Wilson 2018-05-19.jpg”, photograph by It’s No Game, 19 May 2018 (camera date), from Flickr, CC BY 2.0. Our photo.
- Google Street View from the Thames Path, April 2021.
- Geograph: “A Slice of Reality”, photograph by Gareth James, taken 14 February 2024, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Geograph: “A Slice of Reality”, photograph by DS Pugh, taken 8 January 2025, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Street Art Utopia
- Street Art Utopia: “Buildings That Won’t Behave (10 Photos)”, 20 October 2026. The SAU post with this work.
Artwork File · Last checked 20 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files