huddersfield conversation
Commission from Kirklees Council to develop a new artwork for the town centre.
AUDIT, RESEARCH, PREPARATION
Being new to Huddersfield I first had to orientate myself in the town. It was important to understand the area within which the project was to take place and know more about the context within which it had been commissioned.
Work in this stage included attending the symposium at Huddersfield College, walking and cycling tours of the town, and curated walks with council officers including to the Textile Centre Of Excellence.
EXPERIMENTATION
I developed three micro-projects that each explored different approaches to the commission.
THREADS
A new development of a long standing project using thread to create large scale, temporary sculptures in public space. Working in collaboration with composer Eve Harrison, we devised a work that would weave sculptures throughout the town centre as a performance.
As well as an exciting debut of this new piece, this created opportunity to spend time and carry out a detailed examination of a number of sites through the town.
MIRROR CART
I had been particularly struck by Huddersfieldʼs architecture. I created a cart made of mirrors that would form a collage of vignettes of the skyline. Revealing details and features of the town that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Working in collaboration with Scott Farlow, two days were spent pulling the cart on routes from the town centre out to the ring road.
OUTCOMES
Each micro project resulted in outcomes with potential for development into a full blown work. While considering opportunities to use mirrors, I realised that the essence of the work was about audience's response to them and the discussions they invoked.
I have designed a sculpture for the town centre that captures the essence of Huddersfield. Its ribbon form references both Huddersfield’s textile past and the local geography of its location, nestled in hills glimpsed constantly from the town. Its surface is stainless steel polished to mirror finish. Its curve is constructed from many flat faceted sections set a different angles, each reflecting a different vignette of the townscape. Viewed together they form a cohesive but deconstructed respresentation of their surroundings.
The work is intended to encourage pause, interaction and dialogue about the town, its architecture, its place.