Reflections on Strangers on a Train: Mandy Bray The sheer excitement of going to meet a stranger stepping off a certain train at a specific time and place was what initially attracted me to the project. I could hardly contain myself! - should I tuck a folded newspaper under my arm or wear a red carnation in my lapel? Clearly, the romance and glamour of rail travel from an earlier era and images of old black-and-white films influenced me, coming into my head and taking over. The exchange process felt like some sort of covert operation, with a small group of people intent on the same act suddenly converging out of the dark shadows of the platform. The speed at which the exchange took place, determined by the relentlessness and purpose of the train on its journey, was also thrilling. Then followed the anticipation of what was in the package I had been given and what the receiver would make of my work. Would they open the box straight away, or would they wait until arriving at their destination before looking at the contents? Should I wait until I returned home before lifting the lid and viewing the contents…? How would we react to one another’s artwork? How far would we be able to go, in terms of altering, adding to or even "destroying" the original work? At the first exchange, curiosity got the better of me and I quickly looked at the work I had been given and was immediately excited, inspired and challenged by it. I managed to restrain myself after the final exchange, by not opening the box until I arrived home – but the contents felt lighter, so I knew something had happened! I laughed out loud when I opened the box, despite the powerful contents. I laughed because I was pleased that my "stranger" had responded to my work that, in one way, I had secretly hoped for, but in another I had not initially seen in my own work, yet now seemed so appropriate. Producing work for a project with a short time-scale was inviting and challenging, forcing me to work with immediate reactions but also allowing me to make work exploring ideas already in my mind. My work gathered together pairs of disparate and discarded objects and trinkets found in charity shops, presented in a shoe box as if a collection of treasured or forgotten personal effects. For me, this mirrored the temporary linking then dispersal of the participants in the project. Collaborating with other artists, albeit anonymously at the outset, connected by the linearity of the train line cutting through the landscape and joining points along the way, was the most significant part of the project, perhaps more so than the actual making of the work. [Mandy's work was altered by Jacqueline Mantle, and Mandy altered Dave Ball's piece.]