18 Sep2018

Old King Coal

Written by David Kemp. Posted in The Blog

 

OLD KING COAL   Sustrans railway path Pelton Fell co Durham, built with the help of local volunteers and redundant miners and steelworkers and completed  the same day as the last colliery closed in County Durham.

Way back in 1992, the deconstruction of Britain’s heavy steel and coal industries was
well under way, and the term “post industrial “was clearly illustrated by many demolished steelworks ,coal mines ,and abandoned railways.
John Grimshaw , director and chief engineer of Sustrans had the vision and foresight to to redevelop these redundant facilities as long distance cycle paths as future important resources, as recreational, social and “green”links ,connecting communities rural and urban s well as facilitating access to our countryside again.

I was commissioned to build a series of milestone and landmark sculptures,using discarded materials found on nearby post industrial sites, and which informed passers-by of the changing nature and history of the surrounding landscapes.

These “site specific ” sculptures were low cost projects ,often improvised with free or bartered scrap from local industries. Sited on very exposed outcrops and slag heaps,and unsupervised public access along the cycle paths of the Durham Moors ,these “post industrial giants” still endure twenty five years on.

Sustrans continues to maintain these derelict structures which are inevitably subject to the ravages of time. These photos show some of the changes, the grafitti
and surrounding vegetation and landscape.

Old King Coal  25years later  (Pelton Fell,Sustrans C 2  cycle path near Beamish

all  recent photos by my archaeologist friends Richard and Christina.

The Old transformers, IRON MASTER  1990

Overlooking derelict site ofConsett Steelworks,once the largest steelworks in Europe.

STEEL MASTER 2001

 

OLD TRANSFORMERS 2018, photo Richard and Christina

the old transformers, Miner  sustrans long distance cycle path  Leadgate  Co Durham.

The OLD TRANSFORMERS   2018.

The Old Transformers ,the Legend burnt into  a thick steel plate,

“The men that lived near here,dug in the ground for the black stone,

In their giant huts ,they burnt the earth and  turned the sky red.

A river of steel ran to the sea,where it was transformed into  the ships,locomotives and machines that transformed the world”

For more information on the building of these sculptures please see my 27dec  2010BLOG  “INDUSTRIAL GIANTS”

 

 

19 Jul2018

The DEPARTMENT OF RECONSTRUCTION~”building a better yesterday”

Written by David Kemp. Posted in The Blog

Re-emerging on the cultural horizonThe Department  has renewed its  research  into redundant artifacts and  obsolete technologies.

Rummaging in  its extensive collection  of unearthed discoveries,  Icons ,votive figures , relics and god-dollies  from  another era  the department  has attempted to re-assemble  these components,guided by  fragments of legends ,stories and rumours that  have  survived  from the  distant past.

                                                                             ”    LUCY LITES  OUT  “

 

                                 “VIRTUAL VIRGIN”

 

The “Digital Bandit” has acquired a shiny Halo ,been  canonised and is now a ” CYBER SAINT”

“CROSS-WIRED “

 

 

 

”  ROCKING BASS”

 

“WHITE MAN’S  CANOE “

  “WHITE MAN’S CANOE”

19 Jul2018

PUBLIC HANGING at WELLS ,SOMERSET

Written by David Kemp. Posted in The Blog

Way back in 1981,Anthony FROST , Jason WASON, Rod WALKER, Bob Morley, Nick Hellyer and myself , were all living out on the wild Tinners Coast near St Just in West Cornwall,
Hanging out close to the edge together , we were invited to hang our work together at the PENWITH Gallery ST IVES.

Thirty Seven years later, we were still all just about hanging on out there in the wild west,still inspired by the magnificent landscape ,still doing it with paint, mud and junk.
We thought it might be fun to hang together again at the same venue.
It was very interesting to see how things had developed over the four decades , the exhibition was both successful and fun.

We might have waited another thirty seven years before hanging together again,but the Heritage Courtyard Gallery in WELLS, Somerset to  has kindly invited PUBLIC HANGING to exhibit this August.

Hopefully,our  recent work ,with our very diverse responses to our shared environment  may hang together in interesting ,new and challenging exhibition ?

You are welcome to meet the artists at the PV 6.30 – 9.30 on August 3rd.

The show has been extended to the 24th August

16 May2018

plastic tides

Written by David Kemp. Posted in The Blog

I have lived beside the mighty Atlantic Ocean in Cornwall for more than forty years,and it been an inspiration and a source of materials for much of my work.

Back in the eighties ,the shoreline was littered with more plastic than driftwood and I was prompted by this constant pollution to create a collection of masks,creatures and costumes from this plastic tide.I exhibited these items in a series of exhibitions in public art galleries throughout the next two decades, culminating in several series of site specific public performances sponsored by the Tate Gallery ST Ives.

Collaborating closely with  director Bill Mitchell, and the well known Cornish Theatre Group “Kneehigh”  we invented a series of outdoor theatre productions on beaches and clifftops about marine pollution.

 

 

The storyline ,the sets, some of the characters and most of the costumes were all made from plastic detritus collected on location The theme “GHOST NETS” was a story about the present and future dangers to marine life and our environment.

     

 

FORTY years later,the problem is still very apparent, despite the considerable efforts of many concerned people and organisations. Marine pollution  has become MUCH worse

Plastic disintegrates very slowly  (400years)but remains just as toxic to most life forms even when reduced to tiny fragments. Micro-plastic particles are found on every beach world wide.DR Erk Zetterin a respected microbiologist describes in his 2013 book”Life in the Plastisphere”,evidence of active hydrolysis of hydrocarbon polymer….
EG. life in the form of bacteria that can eat plastic!?

.
The pollution monsters I assembled from the seashore, ,have been replaced by an infinitely more dangerous pollution,  a  very real monster that is growing bigger everyday !It is estimated that the amount of plastic pollution will triple by 2020.

WE  MUST  FIND A WAY TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM  NOW!