OK... this particular piece consists of three different components. Two of these - the bricks and the wood - were salvaged from the Olympic Park more than twelve months ago which is a good indication of just how long I had been thinking about and planning this project. At that time I was constantly on the lookout for things that I could potentially use although at that time I was still not sure that the project would ever see the light of day. So to be writing about this now as a completed work is a really good feeling.
The first stage was to get my bricks in a row...
It was very important to get the symmetry and scale of this work right from the outset so that the precision work that followed always had the right alignment.
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Once I had the scale I started to work on the surrounding textures and colours:
One other thing that I would like to say about this particular piece is that the brick is really quite special. It is 'London Brick' which has a long history. The London Brick Company was founded in 1889 and has essentially built London since then and it continues to do so. The bricks I use in this work were left over from the Olympic Park and much of the brick based construction in the Olympic Park and the Lea Valley Park as well, were manufactured by the London Brick Company.
What about the wood?
The wood has come from wooden pallets that could be seen everywhere during the construction as they are the bases upon which everything is delivered. So the pallets would have had bricks or other building materials sacked on them. So I think this particular work really is a linear distillation of the materials and processes of construction.
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteyou reference construction a lot in discussing the development of this piece. But the images suggest that you're just as inspired by deconstruction, and how that changes the landscape around the two parks?
Hi Sarah
DeleteWell spotted, deconstruction has played an important role through out this project, and how it informed the development of the artwork. Nearly every piece of material used has been deconstruction in some way. Through out the history of these 2 landscapes you have see construction, and equally deconstruction and back to construction. My approach to this project was pretty much the same to reflect the idea of regeneration, turning something old into some thing new.
Plan B makes me think of that excellent Mancunian-Irish band, Dexy's (currently on Plan E I think, but your main man Kevin is always interesting)....then there's "Plan B" themselves, who seems to be rather stuck with that particular urban/rock schtick and accompanying too tight fitting a suit...but this doesnt butter the parsnips of what your project is about, on which I can only offer a banal "it looks good"......best Nik
ReplyDeleteHi Nik
Delete'It looks good' will do me fine. Dexy's and Plan B a great examples of how different things come together when it comes to culture, very much what I am trying to achieve with this project. A kind of Two Tone for the visual arts.
Cool, by the way, I was wrong, Dexy's were Birmingham-Irish (I think!)...I like your idea of two tone mixed heritage etc. Best Nik B
ReplyDelete