Like A Bird
Installed Staircase / Sound Installation / Wandsworth Park, London, UK / 2011
Commissioned by Wandsworth Festival / Produced by Artsadmin / Funded by Arts Council EnglandA public art project and large-scale, sculptural installation for the avenue of London Plane trees in Wandsworth Park.
The commission invited a fleeting intervention in the way that visitors experienced Wandsworth Park. Observing the flow of movement and stillness generated by bodies in the open space and the quiet pull of the river towards a moment of contemplation, I decided to amplify this pause and elevate it via a temporary, familiar structure with at an enlarged scale.
The resulting staircase constructed from reclaimed wood and carefully integrated around the growth pattern of tree Number 35, invited visitors to find a temporary perch in the tree’s crown. Once up in the canopy, visitors could look out over the river Thames and to the skyline beyond. The design of the staircase with its lookout holes and its curved structure was a prompt for felt sensation and perhaps long-forgotten muscle memories of tree climbing as a child. Designed with a user-friendly navigation the staircase enabled visitors of different ages and physical abilities to experience a sense of exhilaration - of looking out to the river and the horizon beyond.
A playful soundscape of imagined conversations between the parks birds revealed elements of the history of the avenue and life in the park. It was available to download and visitors were invited to listen to the audio whilst they spent time with the trees.
Extract from the text:
…In some places in the city the light from the street lamps is so bright that you can wake up thinking its time to sing, way before dawn. That’s why I like the park – the night sky has a nice bit of darkness here. After the joggers and late evening dog-walkers have left there’s a velvety darkness, with sometimes a bright full moon slowly rising and hitting the river with a spill of light. Sometimes, just before sleeping, I like to fly over to the other side of the river and back. I like this quiet hour, with only a bit of traffic way off in the distance and the shadow of my wings on the water. I always listen to the wind rustling the leaves before I sleep…
Credits:
Design & Construction: Pat Seaman / Sound Design: Scott Smith / Production Manager: Steve Wald; Voices: Karen Christopher, Theron Schmidt, Gerard Bell, Duart Da Silva Sylwain, Scott Smith, Rajni Shah