connecting above and below

I envisage this blog being a sort of online diary crossed with a project sketchbook. It will be a useful journal if I can keep to it…I hope it’s of interest.



Wednesday 3 February: Offered the chance to meet the St Ethelburga’s team behind the scenes as it were. It was great to meet them and hear a little about their amazingly multi-faceted programme. It also saw some project practicalities being addressed - like how to suspend a block of ice in the West Tower of St Ethelburga’s' Center!

Not an every day sort of problem! An elegant solution to hanging the ice is a challenge and the solution needs to be almost invisible or at least not to call attention to itself. I want the ice to hang high in the space so that it is out of the viewer’s felt space at first. The linen clothe frozen into the ice is about 8 foot long so I would like the ice to be at least 10 feet above the floor at the start of the event. In this way the gap between the ice and the melt water is maximized – the long drop of the water creating an active void between the elements:
– ice,water........steel. The force of the water drops hitting metal will also create a sound-piece for the musician and poet to respond to.

I am investigating hanging the ice with stainless steel cable but needed to discover if there was any way to suspend it directly from the belfry. Access to the tower if via a narrow roof light and across the lead roof but I have to admit to chickening out when I stuck my head through the roof light window and saw what the journey entailed…chicken!

However, the wonderful Jeff-the-caretaker came to the rescue and braved the ascent; he discovered a large removable panel in the tower ceiling. Wonderful news. This means that a single drop of wire is all that is required and a tall set of step ladders

We also discussed the size of the vessels that would collect the melt-water…and decided that two foot diameter bowls would suit the scale of the space. There will be twelve bowls in total - a new one placed under the ice every 2 hours. I like the idea that others would do this as part of a communal making of the work; a shared attention.

At 1pm a short reading followed by 15 minutes of shared silence seemed a very good way to finish the morning before a delicious lunch of homemade soup and cheeses. I was asked to talk a little about the project, and said that I wanted the ice to be made of Thames water…which raised the question of where I was going to get the water from….and how….

The trap door into the belfry is welcome find as it simplifies the hanging of the ice...

Saturday 6 February: Today I started making the steel frame for the ash circle – I love the alchemical magic of working with metal. The gas welder liquefies steel/ copper welding bar so that it flows like glowing syrup. I especially enjoy the showers of sparks that blast from an angle grinder - a wonderfully noisy firework display creating showers of pale gold sparks that gush off the metal, hitting the walls, my visor and then landing on top of my head. A bit painful but worth it!