PASW Regional Newsletter: Spring 2004
Focus On Current Projects & Issues
The Met Office Art Programme
In November 2000, the Met Office announced its intention to relocate its head office and operations centre from Bracknell, Berkshire, to new, purpose-built accommodation at Exeter Business Park. The operations centre was launched in August 2003, and now the new building is complete and fully occupied.
The Met Office has created a modern and efficient working environment that encourages innovation and recognises its 'world-class' position as a leader in the fields of meteorology, climatology and environmental science.
In May 2002 the Met Office (with the help of Maggie Bolt of Public Art South West) appointed Tom Littlewood of Ginkgo Projects to develop and manage the implementation of an art programme that would enable artists to play a role in developing an innovative and stimulating working environment. It became the aim of the art programme to reflect, promote and debate the activities of the Met Office through exploring the inter-relationships between art and science. The art programme now has three components based on promoting the work of artists at different scales within the building.
The first element is a large scale commission by Alex Beleschenko. Based in Swansea, Alex trained as a painter, but in recent years has developed an international reputation for his work with glass. Humankind's relationship to nature is a continuing theme in his work, which includes major pieces at the Herz Jesu Kirche in Munich, the Light House screen in Glasgow, and the Aventis screen in Strasbourg . His work ranges from the representational to the abstract, but it always informs and can be read at many levels ø it can articulate a space as a visually pleasing work of art or it can be investigated to reveal a hidden story.
Alex has been working with staff from the Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research to develop his work on the theme of chaos theory, using the Lorenz Attractor, a depiction of chaos theory upon which forecasting models have developed. Alex will create two 4.5m glass cylinders placed within the street. The work will enrich the central 'street' within the building complex.
The second element of the programme is a series of artist placements. Five artists have been working alongside staff exploring aspects of Met Office activities. Garry Fabian Miller, Lulu Quinn, Shauna McMullan, Michael Wenyon/ Susan Gamble and Chris Helson/Sarah Jackets have been working within the Met Office over the past nine months. The result of each commission will become visible within the street and associated areas between December 2003 and April 2004.
Garry Fabian Miller lives on Dartmoor. He has established an international reputation for working with light and photographic techniques, without camera or film, to represent the forms of nature in new and surprising ways. His work is direct and often quiet with a strong intuitive sense. 'Green Air' is a paper based framed work and is based on the seasonal cycle of the poplar tree, and has been researched in collaboration with Richard Betts from the Met Office's Hadley Centre.
Lulu Quinn is based in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Two themes run through her commissions: the first is the contextual relationship to site, its location, history and community; the second is an interaction of the artwork through sound and movement with the observer. She has undertaken similar placements with the National Monuments Record Centre, British Rail, and Seagrams Whisky Distillers. 'Model 31.08.03' will commemorate the transfer of operations from Bracknell to Exeter on 31 August 2003 . The work is a 9.5 metre long curved mirror glasswork outside the conference suite. The mirror will be etched with text containing forecast model code interwoven with names and roles of staff working for the Met Office on that day, so as to provide a permanent record of the diversity of skills and responsibilities that make up the Met Office in 2003.
Shauna McMullan is a sculptor based in Glasgow. The gradual loss of a sense of place, and the disorientation which arises as a consequence, are among the factors which have created an obsession with topography, plans and mapping within her work. 'Windborne' is inspired by the theme of relocation, and uses Saharan dust relocated to the UK by the atmosphere, as the basis for its sculptural form. Shauna will be working with staff to collect Saharan dust from Bracknell and Exeter for use in this work.
Michael Wenyon and Susan Gamble are based in New York and London. Their work uses photography and scientific research material. Evolving out of collaboration with scientists, their work is quiet, reflective and represents the complexity of the issues that bind art and science. Recent collaborations include the Royal Greenwich Observatory and the MIT Haystack Radio Observatory, Massachusetts. Michael and Susan have collaborated with the Marine Networks team to create a panoramic view titled 'Automatic Observations', around one of the offshore weather observing buoys, a key element in the observing network around the UK.
Chris Helson and Sarah Jackets are based in Dumfries and Galloway, and have a fascination in developing work that leads the observer to look again at the environment they are living in. They have been appointed to develop a commission inspired by the Met Office's 150th anniversary. Chris and Sarah are working through this collaborative approach to create a film recording the Met Office in 2004.
A selling and touring exhibition, 'Elemental Insight' forms the third element of the programme. The Devon Guild of Craftsmen has been commissioned to curate the exhibition, which will initially be staged within the Met Office at Exeter over the summer of 2004 followed by a tour to other venues around the country. Work from 25 artists based or working in the south west and who have demonstrated a conceptual or processed based engagement with the effect of the weather on the environment has been selected. The Met Office will use the exhibition as a source for the purchase of work for their new offices. The Met Office is committed to developing their staff as employees and individuals and finding opportunities for creative thinking and personal development so practical arts workshops will be run with staff during the exhibition.
This is the first time that the Met Office has commissioned artists to work in collaboration with staff and to benefit from the unexpected insights that arise from dialogue between artists and scientists. The results will create a positive working environment that has a real sense of place and identity.
For further information please contact:
Tom Littlewood, Ginkgo Projects Ltd, St Judes Studio, Axbridge, Somerset, BS26 2AF. Tel: 01934 733406. Email: Thomas.Littlewood@virgin.net
A New Library for Dursley - giving the artist a greater role
Dursley is an ancient but workaday market town on the edge of the Cotswold escarpment, surrounded by an impressive backdrop of beech woods. It has long outgrown its existing library (an unremarkable 1930s building) and Gloucestershire County Council decided 5 years ago to build a new one - its first since 1991.
The county has a Percent for Art policy and commissioned glassmaker Colin Reid to work on the scheme ø encouraging him to integrate his artwork within the fabric of the building. Initial plans for a library three times the size of the old, on a new site, went way over budget and were shelved. It was then proposed to knock down the old library and replace it with a new one 50% bigger. The management team remained committed to Colin as the project's artist and seized the opportunity to involve him in the selection of fresh design consultants.
This unusual step has led to a very fruitful collaboration between artist and architect in which each has stimulated and challenged the other. As well as designing a series of glass 'stepping stones' drawing people into the library, Colin has even had some impact on the shape of the building.
"Éwhilst it might be difficult in future to identify the artist prior to the consultants, I think finding the artist as soon as possible, so that they can work with the architect and with the consultant, has proved to be beneficial."
Mary Tucker [Group Librarian South, Gloucestershire County Libraries]
Steven Deproost (writer documenting the project)
For further information about this project or Percent for Art in Gloucestershire contact Lesley Greene (Public Art Adviser to Gloucestershire County Council)
Tel: 01452 770018. Email: evans.greene@zetnet.co.uk
Bristol Public Art Strategy
The Bristol Public Art Strategy was launched by Chris Murray , Director of Learning and Development with CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) and members of the Spacemakers project in Hartcliffe on Wednesday, 10 December at the Architecture Centre in Bristol.
The strategy has been prepared to provide a framework for the work of Bristol City Council and its partners to deliver integrated, high quality public art which supports the city's ambitions and the council's corporate aims particularly in terms of contributing to the development of a high quality public realm.
The strategy acknowledges wide consultation with local people, artists, planners, architects, key service providers, arts venues and other organisations working together in the public realm. The Public Art Policy and draft alterations to the Bristol Local Plan 2001-2011 aim to embed public art in key renewal projects to promote city and neighbourhood identity in the future. The strategy outlines how Bristol City Council intends to implement the public art policy and provides guidance to developers as to how to commission artworks of high quality in the public realm.
In welcoming publication of the strategy, Cllr. Anne White, Executive Member for Environment, Transport & Leisure, Bristol City Council, said: 'It is important that the city council leads by example by including public art within its own capital development programme and encourages the commission of artworks by artists and helps establish Bristol as a modern, European city of culture'.
In launching the strategy, Chris Murray said: 'While promoting the role of the arts and artists, the Bristol Public Art Strategy profiles a shared vision of several agencies to create new design solutions for a high quality built environment and achieve better places and spaces in the public realm.'
The term 'public art' refers to artists working within the natural, built, urban or rural environment. Public art aims to integrate artists' ideas and vision into the process of creating new and regenerated spaces and buildings. Working with artists offers an opportunity to design schemes which go beyond the purely functional and create places that reflect the life, identity and aspirations of a particular place or community. The Bristol Public Art Strategy places public art within the planning and development process; complementary to good urban and building design; integral within new development schemes; as part of social investment in new and refurbished housing, improvements to open public space, arts and health initiatives, towards creative and neighbourhood renewal.
The current programme of public art work features at least a dozen demonstration projects in regeneration areas across the city which will come to fruition within the next few years. They include: the Healthy Living Centre in Barton Hill; the St Paul's Learning and Family Centre; the Art of Well Being at the Knowle West Health Park; redevelopment of Broadmead, Harbourside and Temple Quay; Legible City gateways; the redevelopment of the Colston Hall; and the Spacemakers project in Hartcliffe.
Spacemakers is a design project for young people aged between thirteen and fifteen living in the Hartcliffe area of south Bristol. The project promotes the involvement of young people in decisions affecting environmental change and enables them to help shape respective visions.
For further information about the Bristol Public Art Strategy contact:
Alastair Snow, Senior Public Art Officer, Bristol City Council
Tel: 0117 922 3466. Email: alastair_snow@bristol-city.gov.uk
Jonathan Banks, Art Project Manager, Bristol City Council.
Tel: 0117 922 3064. Email: jonathan_banks@bristol_city.gov.uk
Tremough Campus, Penryn, Cornwall
Artists have now been commissioned to provide three major public art projects as an integral part of the development of Cornwall's £100 million Tremough Campus in Penryn, near Falmouth.
Tremough is the 'hub' site of the new Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative (CUC). The public art commissions are part of phase 1 of the redevelopment of the site. The main building houses the new Design Centre for Falmouth College of Art, accommodation for the courses to be offered by the University of Exeter in Cornwall, and shared resources including a new library. The Design Studios opened in September 2003, with the building due to become fully operational in September 2004. When completed, this major expansion of the university sector in Cornwall will have 3,000 students on site.
The futuristic building design, by Percy Thomas Partnership of Cardiff, takes full advantage of its steep hillside site. The stepped, landscaped roof follows the contours of the site, with views overlooking the sea. Two areas, each made up of a cluster of interlinked structures spread outwards from a central courtyard, form the 'core' space of the building. Most of the links between structures occur at first floor level or above, so that they form bridges or shelters over ground level circulation and social spaces. The main entrance to the new complex brings the visitor directly into the courtyard and ensures that orientation from that arrival point is as clear as possible.
Two of the three commissions reflect the importance of the courtyard to the site as a social space and orientation point, and take their theme from the historic exotic gardens on the Tremough site. The glass artist Kathryn Hodgkinson has been commissioned to create an artwork to provide 'manifestations' along the 65m long glass wall of the Design Centre complex, which curves around two sides of the courtyard.
Kathryn is basing her design on the rare exotic Rusty Back Fern, first brought into the country, probably inadvertently, as a spore aboard one of the Falmouth post packets in the eighteenth century, and catalogued in the journals of Cornish amateur botanist, Frederick Davey. Her abstract design, based on the plant's structure, will be digitised, and each individual pixel created using negative lenticular lenses, 36,000 in all, stuck directly to the glass to build up the overall image.
Michael Trainor's proposal for a series of animated sculptural works for the courtyard also refers back to the botanical history of the site. 'Power Plants' is conceived as a series of self-sustaining 'plants' which have developed along the principles of physics rather than biology. These plants absorb their energy from natural phenomena within the environment to produce electro-mechanical effects. Michael has put forward a number of initial design ideas for these 'plants', powered by renewable energy sources. Two of these ø the Parasol Plant and the Lightning Seed - are currently being taken forward to the development stage in collaboration with the Physics Department of the University of Exeter.
The third commission, 'Turbulence', is by Lulu Quinn, and reflects the architectural commitment to integrating artist interventions into the overall design of the building. This is a series of interactive light sculptures based on helical structures surrounding the flue clusters which provide venting for the Design Centre, laboratories and plant room. Some of these clusters are very prominent, up to 8m in height, in addition to being on a hilltop site, and part of Lulu's very challenging brief was to improve their visual impact on the skyline. The lights will be pre-programmed to respond in particular patterns to the prevailing wind speed and direction, being linked to the building's environmental management system, to the levels of energy being used and generated within the building. The structural engineers, Buro Happold, are collaborating on the development of the project.
The overall programme budget is £500,000, with funding already committed from Objective One, ERDF, South West RDA, Higher Education Funding Council, and Tremough Development Vehicle Limited (TDV), the joint venture between Falmouth College of Arts and the University of Exeter that will operate the shared campus as part of the CUC initiative. An Arts Council grant of £50,000 was announced in January, and a number of applications to other potential funders are current.
The three commissions are currently in detailed development stage. Subject to confirmation of funding, it is anticipated that the artists will move to the fabrication stage in May, with installation in time for the projected completion of the building in September 2004.
Project management is being carried out by Cornish Project Delivery and mor design.
Contact for the project is Geoff Swallow, Principal, Cornish Project Delivery .
Tel: 01872 242441. Email: geoff@uccello.co.uk
Sound Garden, New Hopebrook School, Forest of Dean
Artist Jony Easterby was commissioned to work with the staff and pupils and the architects, as part of Gloucestershire County Council's Percent for Art programme, for the new Hopebrook School in the Forest of Dean.
It was agreed that the development of the commission should emerge from a Creative Arts Week in which the whole school would participate. A project was agreed with staff that addressed sound and rhythms, maths, the local history and ecology. Three artists participated - Jony Easterby, Pippa Taylor and Gloucestershire Dance (the latter funded by GLOSS).
Jony Easterby took groups of children on 'acoustic walks' listening to local sounds in the village and fields and bringing those back to create tapes. Pippa Taylor involved the children in creating, measuring and carving their own large scale sculptural xylophone. Gloucestershire Dance created movement and dance based on the local landscape.
Rehearsal for orchestra work to mark opening of new school.
Artist: Jony Easterby
Photo: Martin Avery
The resulting landscaped Sound Garden consists of eight interactive sculptures which, when played, create a range of different sounds, for example carved Blaison plum trees (a uniquely local plum) which have plums that emit sounds when a beanbag is thrown against them.
For further information about this project or Percent for Art in Gloucestershire contact Lesley Greene (Public Art Adviser to Gloucestershire County Council)
Tel: 01452 770018. Email: evans.greene@zetnet.co.uk