Time and Tide is a new commission by artist Alison Turnbull for cycle shelters at stations across the network. Alison was invited by DLR to devise an overall concept for the panels that enclose the shelters, creating a serial artwork integrated within their design. The artwork creates a distinctive visual identity for this new amenity, which is subtly transformed for each location, and will be seen and enjoyed by cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

The artist, a keen cyclist herself, was asked to consider the relationship of the DLR to its surrounding environment - in particular the distinct local ecology of the Docklands area of London and its industrial heritage.

'I approached this commission by thinking about the sea, shipping and navigation and by taking London's maritime history as my starting point. I was also aware that the design that eventually emerged would need to be graphically bold and capable of being transformed and adapted at successive stations as their provision for cyclists is developed.'

For this new serial artwork, Alison's inspiration appropriately draws upon two other universal systems: the lunar cycle and tidal rhythms, represented on the front and back of the panels.

At each shelter the front of the panels feature emblematic black and white images of the moon as it passes through its phases, set against evocative coloured grounds. These backgrounds vary from station to station, and include the creamy yellow of graph paper, the aquamarine suggestive of maps in schoolbooks and the deep indigo of the night sky.

The reverse of the panels feature tide charts relating to London and other port cities around the world, selected for their trading links with London or their larger geographical and historical resonance. They include, for instance, Port of Spain and Shanghai, Marseille and Mombassa. The charts are laid out in a black and white grid that parallels the arrangement of the lunar images on the front of the panels. As front and reverse will never be seen together, the correspondence is echoed rather than perceived simultaneously.

Alison comments:
'Two different sorts of calendar are being represented, one essentially visual and analogue, the other more abstract and digital. I hope that the imagery might prompt thoughts of the sea, distance and the passage of time.'

Alison's commission can be seen first at Shadwell and Gallions Reach Stations, and subsequently wherever new cycle parking provision is installed across the network during the course of 2008.