Public Art/Landscaping Commission, Portmarine, Portishead

Location: Public Art/Landscaping Commission, Portmarine, Portishead
My interest in 'place' and how it is understood, constructed and represented continues into a series of public art commissions. Again working collaboratively, in this case with Angela Cockayne as 'Forge Projects' I am interested as much in developing a new identity or 'sense of place' of a site as in the more common cultural archaeological approach to public art where aspects such as local heritage are used as subject matter.
The Portishead commission included elements of landscaping and community input to create a recreational garden within a very large housing development. Large granite blocks from the harbour wall were reclaimed and positioned along a figure of eight pathway built into a hillside. Bronze plaques derived from local history and features were set into the stones, readable as a loose narrative from both directions. Although reflecting on the post industrial / marine nature of the site, the plaques suggest new readings and meanings. The commission was treated as landscaping rather than sculpture - as left over traces of former industry to be engaged with physically as well as visually.