NATURAL RESOURCES
OF THE DOWNS
HARNESSED FOR SCULPTURE
ARTISTS
RESIDENCIES AT WEALD & DOWNLAND OPEN AIR MUSEUM
FOR MUSEUMS MONTH
Two Sussex sculptors have spent Museums Month turning the
natural resources of the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton, West Sussex to
advantage in two very different art works.
Taking shape before the eyes of visitors to the busy historic
buildings museum, the sculptures are the result of two artists residencies organised as
part of the Museum’s activities for Museums Month, which took place all over Britain
in May.
Jonathan Froud’s hillside sculpture explores the
relationship between water and the distinctive chalk geology of the South Downs where the
50-acre museum is located.
A Window on the World or Water
Lupe uses a combination of chalk from the Museum’s site, ash poles from
its coppice woodland, laminated plywood and steel wires and rigging screws - high grade
versions of which are common in contemporary structures like The London Eye.
The main focus of the interactive sculpture is held within a
vertical cone, so visitors must climb inside and look up! A transparent dish becomes a
fisheye lens through which they view the sky and into which droplets of water are gravity
fed from higher up the hill. The rhythmical droplets and ripples are supplemented by the
effects of wind and rain, reminding us of our connection to the weather.
A copper tripod conveying the water creates the ancient Indian
symbol for the earth element and when the lens is full light refracts to form a
prismatic ring uniting the elements and becoming the contemporary symbol for peace.
When the lens is brimming water falls back to earth and onto the chalk, beginning a
journey to deep underground aquifers, to re-emerge years later. Or it evaporates to form
clouds, perhaps eventually to join the oceans, which once covered the hills on which the
sculpture stands and was the home of multitudes of marine organisms whose compressed
bodies formed the chalk.
Tim Sandys-Renton took part in one of the Museum’s unique
courses in timber-framing to learn the ancient skills of hewing building timbers from
trees before beginning his work, which incorporates shaped timber and bent steel,
reflecting two very vital materials used by the traditional builders.
Tim Sandys-Renton produces sculpture that expresses ideas about
self-identity. Using very different media (wood and steel) and opposites (heavy and light,
rough and smooth, figurative and abstract) he aims to convey conflicting aspects of
personality. The elements are unified in his work, suggesting a fragile but coherent whole
- the linear elements suggest movement from A-B and juxtaposition of the material
timelessness of wood and steel .
The wooden shapes relate directly to the shape of the branches
they came from while the steel is much more flexible. A big circle of steel was inspired
by the rim of a large cartwheel outside the Museum’s blacksmith’s workshop and
steel pegs from the traditional timber-frame construction process (they are removed once
the structure is erected and replaced by wooden pegs). A steel head at the end of Tim
Sandys-Renton’s moving line is the representation of man, seemingly in motion but
supported by the steel which holds together the wood - two worlds, one in motion and the
other crude, slow and fragile by comparison.
The Museum is currently involved in commissioning art works to
interpret the interior of its latest exhibit - a 16th century smoke-bay
cottage, recently restored and re-assembled at the Museum . The history of the downland
labourer’s dwelling will be brought to life at an emotional level through art works
incorporating sculpture, sound, text and moving images. Tim Sandys-Renton is involved with
this project in his capacity as senior lecturer in fine art at University College
Chichester.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The award-winning Weald & Downland Open Air Museum has over 45
historic building exhibits from town and country. It is the only museum collection in West
Sussex to be Designated by the Government as nationally outstanding. Visitors discover the
medieval farmstead, the working watermill producing stoneground flour, the Tudor market
hall, Victorian labourer’s cottages, the hands-on gallery of traditional building
techniques, historic gardens and farm animals. The Museum takes a special interest in
nurturing traditional rural skills and countryside crafts, growing thatching straw and
arranging frequent demonstrations e.g. blacksmithing, pole lathe turning, hurdle fence
making and lead casting. An extensive programme of courses designed for both professionals
and interested individuals is run each year in timber-framing and building and countryside
skills.
Visitor facilities include a café and book and gift shop. The Museum
is located near Goodwood midway between Chichester and Midhurst off the A286 in the
village of Singleton, West Sussex.
NOTE TO EDITORS
Photographers are welcome at the Museum on both days. For further information
please contact marketing officer Gail Kittle at the Museum on 01243 811363. Fax 01243
811475. Email marketing@wealddown.co.uk.
Jonathan Froud Tel 01243 543107. Tim Sandys-Renton Tel 01243 530179.
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