I’m thinking of performing a resurrection; well, of sorts, read on. I want to map ideas associated with ‘social’ change, around here, over the last hundred years. In this direction my thoughts have turned to the local stately home, “Tredegar House”, this was the ancestral home of the Morgan family. An enormously powerful and rich family they owned and controlled much of this city and its port. Tredegar house, a palatial heap, stands as a symbol of their omnipotence. Sometimes worlds collide, I remember my father recounting, of how as boy, he would illicitly enter the house grounds. He described to me his sense of wonder, at seeing the huge mature magnificent trees and the block colours of mature rhododendrons, a view into another world I suppose. That was not that an unusual situation around here in the nineteenth century. At the forefront of the industrial revolution South Wales and its industries was carved up and controlled by a small number of families. Cardiff which is close to here was under the aegis of the Marquess of Bute.
Time has all but erased the Morgan family, and ownership of Tredegar house has passed to the local council ( a very grand council house). Now the house and grounds are an amenity enjoyed by all. On a sunny Sunday afternoon you will see many people spending time there. As a basis for a sculpture I imagine a scenario where users of the park, both past and present (including Lord Tredegar himself) will be brought together, to spend one afternoon in the grounds together. How would we see each other?
