Installation

Today at 8.30am my Castleford 'Memory Map' was collected from the studio.

Once on site the base for the piece was carefully lowered into place.



After months of design, fabrication and planning the project is finally complete. The Map is in its home and my job is done.

Pointing

This week I am mostly pointing.

I wasn't looking forward to this part of the job and it is proving to be trickier than I had expected. My technique may be seen as somewhat unorthodox but the end result will be okay. Hopefully by Friday I will be one step closer to finishing this project.

Castelford Piece Nearing Completion

The foundation has now been laid and I am currently preparing to install the finished piece. I've spent the past 3 days building the base... I'll spend the next few days pointing it.

Hopefully I will be installing in about a fortnight.

The base is built on a 15mm steel plate. It will be lifted into place by HiAb. Using my gantry today I tested the lift. The piece weighs just over half a ton. I was slightly apprehensive about the lift but so far so good!

Castelford Piece Nearing Completion

The bricks have been fired and the 'Memory Map' is cast. I've spent the past couple of days putting it together in the studio, a sort of dummy run!

The 'Map' must now oxidize.

The Pattern is Finished

The pattern for my 'Memory Map' is now finished. I will deliver it to the foundry this week.

Completed Base

The completed base on November 10th.

Once the carving of the base is finished the piece needs to be disassembled for firing. In order to ensure that it can be reassembled correctly I make a series of marks on the inside as an initial guide.

Before firing each brick needs to be frogged.

The bricks are individually numbered 1 - 160 to ensure they can be reassembled correctly.
Bricks all packed and ready to return to the brickworks for firing.

Slowly Taking Shape

Another week and the piece is a little further on.


I've spent the past 3 days sticking 100s of tiny letters onto the 'map', a slow and fiddly process. It is slowly coming together. I hope to have it finished and ready for casting in the next week.

Pieces of time

The Castleford Memory Map is progressing. I've been working on this piece since September. The base is completed and I am now working on the map itself.

A selection of the clay relief features for the map. The discs are 100mm diameter, there are around 32 of these discs covering the map.

A few discs placed on the map for size.

Transferring the map onto the wooden pattern. The discs are again placed to see how they are going to fit.

The map is now taking shape. The rivers and canals have been cut out and the major roads put in place. The discs cover the map showing the locations of significant industries, places and events in the history of Castleford. These range from an iron age chariot burial ground to the new foot bridge across the River Aire.

Making The Base

Between packing up the old studio and moving I've had to keep working on my on going projects. I began making the bricks for the base of my 'Castleford Memory Map' at the beginning of this week. Each brick is individually hand cut using a wooden pattern box.


Building up the base, trying to keep levels correct.

I had to move the piece onto a table, as my back began to ache!!
I realized that something was wrong. The walls seemed to be slipping off the vertical. I then noticed that the blocks were uneven...

... another wooden box was constructed and every brick has now been leveled.

Looking better.

The base is going to be carved with a low relief water design to represent the River Aire. The piece will be sited on the banks of the river adjacent to the new footbridge.

Over the next few days the relief design will begin to take shape.

Castleford Memory Map Design Proposal

The details for this project are printed on the image above, to read please click on the image. These sketches were delivered to the client today. I still need to gather information relating to the project and will up date as and when I am able.