After 4 months of trying to find the right contact in order to realise the Project, I finally received a call out of the blue from the Parks and Countryside department, only to have their officer say he wouldn’t veto the project.
As calmly as possible I asked him what his problems were and he explained he was worried about the chains damaging the trees, and the work being left to be vandalised. I suggested another proposal, I had developed for a show in the Hague and asked him to give me 24 hours to think things over.
His phone call came three days before the deadline to get my information included in the accompanying Publication and literature, and less than a week before the submission of my Arts Council England application.
The new piece (which had evolved from the original “Great Deeds against the Dead” piece) is based on the character of Saint Sebastian, the Christian Saint who was martyred twice. I called up the Project co-ordinators Catherine Bertola and Sarah Warden to talk through the changes, which involve dragging a punch bag into Hyde Park, as part of a performance, tying it to a tree and piercing it with arrows.
With Catherine and Sarah, happy with the piece I called up the council and promised to remain with the sculpture for the length of the project, and not to damage the trees.
