The making of Global Patterns - Rochdale Town Hall

Lucy Gannon October 25, 2023

FABRIC FROM FIVE CONTINENTS

CORE IDEA

Once Rochdale sent textiles out across the world; today they come from across the world to Rochdale. An echo of the past and a nod to Rochdale’s multi-cultural present.

Ceramic sections in the workshop at Darwen - the pink glaze representing Asia.

Each circular bench is made up of nine individual seats, all bearing textile patterns from a particular continent. In total, there are 45 individual patterns. We have rendered these as arrangements of lines and dots pressed into wet clay. When the clay is fired, titanium glaze collects in the recesses and the patterns become two-tone, iridescent faience.

The patterns themselves are of several different kinds. Some are drawn from designs simply painted or printed onto fabric, others from designs created in the weave. Some describe a certain technique such as tie-dye, appliqué or embroidery. Still others show in close-up the structure of a particular type of fabric itself. All represent textiles that have come to be identified, whether over thousands of years or just a few decades, with a certain part of the world.

A continent contains many countries located in a fewer number of zones. So for each bench we have chosen patterns from as wide a spread of cultures as possible, but composed them into three groups. Our hope is to build up a mosaic of patterns which is at once diverse and harmonious - recognisable as the cultural mosaic of a continent.

CONCEPT IMAGES

MAKING

Our small team enjoyed working at Darwen Terracotta’s workshops - being present for the full process of making and especially enjoying the light from the large windows.

A NEW TECHNIQUE

We worked with the wet clay before it was fired - creating new tools in order to press the different forms and shapes into the clay, changing the amount of pressure or depth needed. There was definitely a state of flow as we worked steadily and slowly to recreate the patterns.

UNDERSTANDING THE GLAZE

Working with Tamzin from Darwen on testing and comparing the different glaze combinations.

DETAILS IN THE GLAZE

More details and stories from each pattern to come.

ROCHDALE REGENERATION

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/150302/new-benches-under-construction-for-town-hall-square

“Warren Chapman, associate partner at landscape architecture Gillespies, said: “We are delighted to see the progress on bringing new life into the heart of Rochdale town centre.

“The completed project will transform a sea of car parking into a people-friendly civic space for generations of Rochdale residents to enjoy and cherish.”

Darwen Terracotta owner Jon Wilson said: “While we work worldwide, it is always heart-warming to be involved with work on our doorstep.

“We were delighted to collaborate with Broadbent on this project, and look forward to seeing the final installation of the benches. We hope the people of Rochdale greatly enjoy this exciting new town square.”

The town hall and square are expected to be reopened to the public later this year.”

— Rochdale online

Revisiting the installation of Chatham Water Seats

Lucy Gannon June 19, 2023

We installed Chatham Waters seats last June - it was part of a wider vision document and Art & Place sourcebook we created for the re-development of the area.

CONCEPT DOCUMENT

Chatham Waters Phase1 RFA settings 23.05.22_Page_4.jpg

Chatham Waters Phase1 RFA settings 23.05.22_Page_2.jpg

Chatham Waters Phase1 RFA settings 23.05.22_Page_3.jpg

Chatham Waters Phase1 RFA settings 23.05.22_Page_1.jpg

Arthur Dooley - Splitting the Atom

Lucy Gannon October 2, 2022

Restoring Splitting the Atom - Arthur Dooley’s sculpture at Daresbury Laboratory @scitechdaresbury from 1970. A piece close to our hearts. We still believe there is a magic relationship between art & science.

Read full blog about the piece and its scientific links from UKRI - UK research & Innovation;

https://www.ukri.org/blog/bringing-scientific-sculpture-back-to-life/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo&utm_content=STFC+-+Daresbury+Lab+content.

Artist Arthur Dooley (in the hat in the background) with a TV documentary crew at Daresbury Laboratory in the 1970s. Pictured in the foreground in white shoes is artist Stephen Broadbent who has worked on the sculpture restoration. Credit: STFC

Captured by Paul Aden

“Art is a powerful tool for us to bring science to a wider audience, so it is important that the Arthur Dooley sculpture is here for many more years.

The work that Stephen and his team have done has brought it back to life, ensuring that staff and visitors can enjoy it fully now and I am delighted with Stephen’s support and contribution.

It seems especially fitting as it is Daresbury Laboratory’s 60th year, so the restoration is part of that story now as well.”

— Stu Buxton, STFC Regional Head of Estates and Facilities (North)

Imagery created for the vision document for the Linear Light Gardens proposal - highlighting this Dooley piece was a central conceptual catalyst for the artworks at Daresbury.

https://broadbent.studio/daresbury

The creation of a linear park, with a pathway that leads you through a story of science crafted in glass, stone and steel and integrated into a shaped landscape. It is a ‘pathway of progress’ as you walk out from the heart of the science park with five feature gardens. It is a welcoming ‘gateway into wonderland’ when you arrive at the park.

City Fields - Wakefield - Concept document

Lucy Gannon September 9, 2022

Artist Statement

We are an art and design studio that has demonstrated the role art plays as part of the built environment, and how it works with the rest of its surroundings to create a sense of place, which is the challenge faced by City Fields, as this new community starts to inhabit this former industrial area.

This is nothing new, as throughout history, wherever people have chosen to build a settlement, they have also crafted something of their own lives, their story or aspiration - a narrative perhaps fashioned in stone, metal and glass or acted out in the market or harbour place.

We always feel privileged to be invited into places built over generations, to help rediscover or re-invent something of their collective story. The City Fields story may feel it is just starting but of course it builds on an older narrative, that reveals the patterns and routines of people’s lives and presents a unique natural environment built by it.

Following initial research we have seen something that particularly stands out in our minds and prompts us to explore further. This is how the ecology of the area has adapted to this industrial landscape, inhabiting man-made green corridors such as the railway and canal, and the watercourses created by collapsed mines.

We are particularly intrigued by the concept of green corridors, and would be keen to explore how this could be expressed visually.

Green corridors are a meeting point for diverse groups of flora and fauna, whether they are corridor dwellers or passage users. They are vital refuges for biodiversity in the urban landscape and also important spaces for our own recreation and wellbeing, including our education in ecology.

Making the commission

After the development stage, the City Fields animals where fabricated in Ulverston at CB Arts and currently waiting to be installed after a series of delays. We cannot wait to see the colourful animals within this post industrial landscape. Look out for installation soon.

Stephen Broadbent and Chris Brammall at CB Arts looking at the City Fields piece in their workshop.

Artist Impression

Concept visual

Pilgrim Porch

Lucy Gannon March 1, 2022

A new window into the Cathedral.

Contribute to a diocesan wide art project.

The design of a sculptural bronze porch with ceremonial glass doors for the west end of Chester Cathedral will be unveiled in 2022 as part of the Queen’s platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The artwork within the glass will encapsulate a significant and meaningful photograph of a particular element from your church

Our vision is to include every single church in the diocese.

“Bishop Mark says: “It is relatively rare that an artist is commissioned to create a new permanent fixture for the interior of a medieval Cathedral.

Once completed our medieval west doors will be open and passers-by will be able to glimpse through the beautiful glass doors into the Cathedral and down the nave to the quire at the heart of the Cathedral. The porch will open the Cathedral to the city, inviting those outside in to explore further our beautiful Cathedral and discover the community that can be found inside.”

— https://www.chester.anglican.org/news/every-church-invited-to-contribute-to-new-jubilee-artwork.php

Find out more about the process

The Apothecary's Garden - The things of this world

Lucy Gannon February 2, 2022

Proposal for the UCLH Garden

CONCEPT

To undergo Proton Beam Therapy is to leave for a moment the familiar world. The patient enters a hi-tech environment so alien to their everyday experience they might as well be an astronaut on a mission to Mars.

Afterwards, it is as though they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and have to reacquaint themselves with the things of this world. In this somewhat shell-shocked spirit they find the Apothecary’s Garden.

The Apothecary’s Garden is a place of healing. It is a haven of peace after Proton Beam Therapy and it contains plants from which to make medicine. But its greatest potential to heal lies in the fact it is a garden. A garden in which there are things like plants to help the patient remember the world they know.

We would like to build on this idea and bring a little more of the natural world around us into this place. Plants belong with animals, and we have in mind a series of animal sculptures carved in stone and set into the wall of each planter. We hope, through the familiarity of our chosen animals and a softness in the design of our sculptures, to enhance the soothing and therapeutic effect of the Apothecary’s Garden.