Art / News
New brick sculpture for Stoke Bishop
A new public artwork has been installed in Stoke Bishop.
Sarah Staton has designed a sculpture that draws on Bristol’s brick-making history and her personal links to the city.
Called Edith and Hans, it is named after the artist’s grandparents and can be found on the University of Bristol’s Stoke Bishop campus.
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Staton has described the new artwork as an “outdoor room”. The bricks wind inwards, allowing for privacy and protection from the wind while still being very public and open. Located in a meadow between Wills and Hiatt Baker Halls, the sculpture offers views to Avonmouth beyond into Wales on one side, and looks up to Wills Hall on the other. Students will be able to make use of this social sculpture as it invites people to interact with it.
University of Bristol vice-chancellor, professor Guy Orpen, said: “Sarah has created an extraordinary permanent artwork for Stoke Bishop, which will no doubt be a popular spot for our students and the public to enjoy for years to come. What is so special about Edith and Hans is how it combines form with function to respond to the natural environment and enhance this beautiful open space in Stoke Bishop.”
In research for the sculpture, Staton stumbled upon the 19th century engineer Charles Richardson, who discovered high quality clay under the Patchway tunnel for the Bristol and South Wales railway that had minerals which allowed the bricks to be produced in many colours.
Thanks to this discovery, Richardon is partly responsible for Bristol’s distinctive architecture, and inspired Staton’s colourful brick design. The sculpture is highly textured, made from wood-fired tiles, reclaimed local bricks and pennant stone. The design on the tiles is made of symbols for major global currencies.
Staton’s grandfather Hans was a former director of Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. He and his wife Edith were friends with the Wills and Hiatt Baker families, both of whom were patrons of the arts.
Bringing together family and community, private and public, and intimate and open, Staton hopes the sculpture will now become a meeting point or picnic spot for students.
Photographs by Max McClure www.maxmcclure.com
Sarah Staton will be talking at Arnolfini on Wed 23 Nov as part of the UWE/Arnolfini Art in th City talks series. For more info, visit www.bristol247.com/channel/whats-on/art-01/artists-talk/uweart-in-the-city-talks-sarah-staton-bristol?time=1479859200
Read more: The tiny global forest at Bristol University