responsibilityandrespect

work on the structures for Goldlay Square progresses - the choices are now finding locations within the plan - I love the action of positioning - working within the digital space - moving something not yet made within a space that does not exist which will impact on people's lives - notions of responsibility and respect are running high today.

steelbooksaregogogo

A wonderfully creative day in Chelmsford yesterday - starting out with a site visit to test out the full-size model of the proposed sculpture. Envisioning is an interesting activity and a designer has to have lots - the site has its buildings 'foot printed' with most of the 2nd floors built so you can get begin to get a real feel for the site -  the spaces within, between and around the buildings. I was pleased that the scale of the proposed pieces appear to 'work'. But by getting onto the site the idea of the pieces unfolding up and around the buildings became an obvious development.

Part two was a meeting to discuss the initial ideas and to iron out any issues that came to light within the build, design, installation and placing of the work. It's a kind of pre-mortem - I love the idea of working within 'negative space' of possibilities - not in the negative sense but in a positive anticipating problem way - working with the possible by carving away what is not 'right'. The meeting went well and it looks as if I will get to make 'giant' steel books structures and 'scatter' them over the site - sooooooo excited......

sizeisall

a morning of thinking about scale whilst admiring a sample for the Goldlay Square work. The overall scale of the pieces in relation to the pattern is interesting to consider and has been highlighted after getting a piece of steel plasma cut. Really pleased with the sample, it has a sense of flow and all the connections that I have been inspired by are embedded within the work.

cuttingcardandstickingart

starting next to a pool and continuing in my studio the thinking around Goldlay Square is becoming focused - there is still a lot of flexibility in the choice and the proposed construction will enable the making to be creative up to the last moment

drawingtomakesenseoftheworld

more drawings in an attempt to rethink or plan the nets - added the image of book structures so the idea of maybe not making sense in terms of being built in the mind could be a part of the work. As ever the tangram is a way of thinking out this puzzle part of the project.

tessellationtessellationtessellation

Spent the day focused on building Penrose tessellations for the Goldlay Square commission. Working with illustrator to create vector drawings that combine the history of the site - the cell like structures that come from the seed/growth/allotment reference and the open book structures that are derived from the book repository and printers. I really like that the more one looks at the design one can see patterns within patterns and the negative spaces provide a place of play. 

foldingandfinding

continuing to extend the idea of nets, crystals and systems. A visit to look at the potential of a plasma cutter at http://www.steelsculptures.co.uk/ has led to thoughts of combining the nets with tessellated patterns. The pieces would be a combination of both geometric art piece and seating - shadows have great potential - aesthetically pleasing and useful! Meanwhile collating distances to everywhere from Chelmsford. The signpost/distance idea is fairly straightforward but rather than buying actual signs they could be cut and galvanised to last forever. I love the idea that everyday the individual looking at the posts will consider their physical place in the world, connecting and joining them to others.

convergentcrystalhistory

convergence - today the various strands of research have merged - from the book repository, thinking about the idea of communication of knowledge and how we communicate - The Marconi Wireless factory is/was just around the corner and I started to reflect on all the places messages were sent to and from and how far away places were/are - signposts - an image from my family album - far right is my Uncle Reg my great Aunt Floss who is sitting on his right, always with her handbag. He worked at GEC and I once made a cats whisker radio set with him - a proto transmitter - the crystal was galena, which has an isometric structure so the idea using symmetric crystal structures to exploring moulds and the positive and negative is in the air.  

Goldlaygardensbecomesasquare

I have a new job. It's a great project working with Commission Projects http://www.commissionprojects.co.uk/ on a new housing development for Essex County Council on the site of the former Essex County Council Libraries Headquarters and storage facility in Chelmsford.  The site has an intriguing history which I am just starting to uncover. My first foray into the archives has thrown up a link to a Mercury Press on the site around 1930-40 which has provided a strand of research. It was also a space of 'knowledge storage' for all you psycho geography people out there. Books ordered in, held there before being disseminated within Essex library service. This flow of stories is another strand, thinking about words and how we use them. Finally walking around the site, the work is beginning and seeing the buildings rising from the ground one connects to the making process. The plans have mirrored formats within the design and the process of building involves moulds so an inside and outside or negative and positive. I'm interested in how this relates to the idea of the puzzle and how good public art makes you think but you can also ignore it until one day you engage. The work begins here......