Stone carving for Haggerston

Well, first I have to apologise for being quiet so such a long period of time. It has nothing to do with Creative City being quiet at all!! Quite on the opposite.

Since we posted about the consultation on the gates, we have been developing a new project for Haggerston with stone carver and mason Bobbie Fennick.

Bobbie and Creative City led a consultation day with L&Q and residents last September.

Residents who attended chose a number of designs to form the inspiration for the carvings on stone monoliths.

- The Weather Vane on top of the Haggerston Baths.
- An opening in the railings along Regent's Canal, well known to residents and passers-by alike.
- A canal lock as it strongly represents the area
- A flat door.

The latest design was 100% chosen by residents, in the sense that the idea for it came about at the consultation. Young residents Elam & Chantelle Forrester then took photographs of the elements that would form the design and passed onto Bobbie to draw up.

Photo by Elam Forrester

The next step was for Creative City to take Bobbie's lead and choose the actual monoliths.
After careful research, Bobbie Fennick selected incredible high quality slate stones from North Wales. The selection process is important as slate must be tested for a minimum of 2 years to reveal cracks. The selected monoliths were actually quarried in the 18's century and supported the construction inside the mountain.

Once the stones were selected, they delivered to London. A team had to move the stones weighing 1ton 1/2 with the traditional method of rolling them with wood and metal rods. 

Photo by Elam Forrester

Photo by Elam Forrester

Photo by Elam Forrester

Bobbie started the drawing and transfer process on the first two. The carving is extremely minutious and precise. It takes an incredible level of concentration and allows for no mistakes. This is skilled craft as its very best. Fascinating to watch.

Bobbie is here starting the carving using extremely sharp chisels.

Black Maria

It's been a long and interesting winter. Back in November 2012, Creative City started to manage a new commission in Kings Cross as part of the re-development of the Granary Building, and what an incredible project it was.

Richard Wentworth, British sculptor, was commissioned as part of the Relay art programme to create an artwork that would bring a sense of destination to this strange space called 'The Crossing', which feels like somewhere between a hall and a street, and acts as the entrance to Central St Martin's.

Wentworth had done a project with ArtAngel called 'An Area of Outstanding Beauty' in that very space 10 years ago. Rather than replicating the previous formula, he entered in discussion with a Swiss architecture firm called GRUPPE. Together, they devised a project, which was a space and a place, a plan and a platform, where one could encounter the in-expectable, create and experiment.

The project shifted and changed before committing to its existing form : Black Maria.

Nick Lobo Brennan, GRUPPE showing the model.

 Inspired from Thomas Edison's eponymous film studio, Black Maria hosted talks, film screenings, performances and events, and allows space for young curators, artists and performers to present their work. It also became a space where to hold an informal meeting, where to engage in conversation on any topic

By the end of the 28 days of Black Maria, the artists and professionals that took part had come from all over London and as far as Boston, USA.

This Pinterest board will give you some ideas of what happened throughout the month.