Tuesday 24 November 2009

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A publication of the whole project with text by Tessa Jackson, available through InSite Arts

Wednesday 9 April 2008

The series of etching of head studies I am doing responds to the different histories and cultures of the vast number of individuals who are and continue to come to work on the development, local people as well as people originating from all around the world contributing. The buildings themselves will be monuments in a way to their combined efforts but I am interested in creating a small, permanent and detailed record of a few of the individuals who have worked on the project as representative of the combined effort of these thousands of people. From featuring the individuals who are leading the whole development across the spectrum to the bricklayers and canteen staff etc. in a single horizontal line I want to emphasize a kind of democracy of shared endeavour. At the end of this line will be a further plate listing in tiny etched text the hundreds of job titles involved in Cabot Circus's stages of development, similarly this list will be presented in a random order.

The placement of the plates - The importance of placing this small scale yet intense group portrait in the heart of the development underneath the epic roof is that the work is celebratory, intended to forefront the fact that this new development has been achieved by a huge team made up of individuals who would otherwise be invisible to the public using the space. A position in or near the central stairwell seems very appropriate and would seem to some how counterbalance this eventual inevitable invisibility, this area being a place where visitors to Cabot Circus will be encouraged to sit, rest, eat and talk.