I have to admit that I’ve not been at the quarry apart from to meet the team who work there. I find these meet and greet things daunting. One thing that struck me though was that I was some how more accepted or understood because I’m a sculptor rather than a painter. Maybe it’s because I work with my hands. When I was studying, my grandfather, asked me when I was going to get a proper job. If you didn’t work with your hands, you weren’t a worker and by default lazy. One of the team also wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing work just for myself.
At the moment, I’m not doing any work – there’s no water at the studio yet. Trying to be polite about not getting in the way of the quarry’s work BUT I need to get in and start working with my hands!
Last week was full of research and meetings. Some useful some not. I still have hopes of an exhibition to mark the end of the residency and talks with a curator look positive. I like the idea of inviting other artists to respond to the quarry landscape. All these dreams and ambitions and in the midst ideas start creeping in for new work. How do you reveal your thought process whilst you’re still trying to come to terms with how and why you are creating work? Any thoughts? Also is anybody else working in a heavy industry field or has done?
A friend emailed and said ‘the quarry blast must be a terrible and beautiful experience’.
It was. A sharp crack and then the rock fell away. The earth reverberated beneath our feet. Dust the colour of dusk light, peachy and rumbling. An awesome experience when energy releases over 40,000 tons of rock.
The best laid plans etc…No blasting today, it’s been rescheduled for tomorrow. So I stayed all tucked up in the studio just drawing, reading and thinking.
I’m looking forward to spending time in the quarry but as I have to be accompanied it’s trying to fit it in with the active working of the quarry itself. Until I’ve been out and about I feel as if I’m working in isolation. There’s no connection yet.
I’ve had my health and safety induction, I’ve got my hard hat, I’m almost ready to go…
I’m really excited at the prospect of the next 12 months. My studio – the electricians workshop – is on the edge of the quarry, for obvious reasons, but next to the loading depot where the mountains of stone scalpings ebb and flow as the lorries collect and deposit. They drive close past the windows on their way to the weigh bridge. The dust is contained through plumes of water being sprayed out and wheels driving through water troughs. It’s the size and scale of the whole process that hits you first.
Tomorrow I’m going to watch my first blasting at the quarry.
