Wakefield

I was asked by Beam on behalf of Wakefield Council to produce a piece that leads people to the entrance of the refurbished Kirkgate Railway Station, Wakefield. A wall was required to separate the public realm with the small park behind. This is the railway station that people use to visit the Hepworth Museum and of course Barabara Hepworth was born in Wakefield. 

The perforations act as a way of connecting the park and public realm whilst also referencing Hepworths sculpturally significant penetration of her forms.

A quote by Wakefield novelist George Gissing is inlaid the surface of the wall using the same technique that is used at the Hepworth Museum. The quote reads: It is the mind which creates the world around us.

6 uplighters are still due to be installed. I'll upload new photographs when that part of the installation is complete.

Many thanks to Fran Smtih, Kate Watson, Beam, Wakefield Council, Seb Boyesen, Simon Wilkins, Mark Scholfield, Waldemar Kripp, Sarah Leeson, Groundwork and Parex.

Leeds Central Sq

I have been working on some artworks with John Orrell and Tim Leigh for the new Central Square building in Leeds. The site is the old railway station where the Mallard set off on its record breaking speed steam locomotive journey and the interactive lighting piece references this in its programme of lighting and form. The piece is made of linear programmable lines of LED's 26 meters high. 

Yesterday the project was on the front cover of the Financial Times.

Many thanks to John Orrell and the DLA team and also to Tim Leigh and Stage One.

This is a model of the form. Larger light samples are currently being made. The black blob at the base is a person to indicate scale.

Deceased Paul

This is a tribute to Paul the predicting octopus who passed away. Paul the octopus predicted the scores of football matches during the World Cup. I wanted to keep this fine tradition alive by making an automata as a tribute to him whilst continuing my exploration into harnessing the power in a pot of tea.

Follow the link below to see a film of 'Deceased Paul' predicting the score between England and Germany.

http://www.jofairfaxstudio.com/projects/Automata/Deceased_Paul

Burnley lighting

The new lighting pieces are starting to be set up in Burnley. Illuminating two magnificent chimneys on the new public square. 

Here are some images from the latest evenings installation this week.

Animated images of a shuttle work their way up the west side of a chimney and then fade to reveal on the southerly side an engineers drawing of a cross section of the loom used in the Weavers Triangle factories. This fades to reveal a rhythmic punch card pattern on the east side.

A separate image on the second chimney to the rear of the square shows a repeat woodblock pattern similar to ones used locally on the cotton produced on site when the cotton industry was at its peak in Burnley.

Massive thanks To Duncan Turner and Nayan for their tireless work.

Thanks also to Burnley Council, to Cecilia Whittaker, Helen Jones, Adam Lockett and James Moran-Zietek.

3d animated zoetropes. Burnley

Two hand cranked three dimensional animated zoetropes were installed in the new Weavers Triangle public square last week. As the handle is rotated the twenty 3d printed figures on a turntable rotate. A white LED light above each figure turns on exactly as the figure passes by. The synchronised flickering effects makes the figures appear to come to life as they go about their business.

One animated zoetrope has a man pushing his trolley of cotton bales accompanied by a walking cat. The other animated zoetrope has a woman tirelessly working at a loom.

The effect of the animation takes place when it is darker.

The red lines at the top of the zoetrope container references the distinctive cotton tea towels made at the Weavers Triangle in Burnley which have three red steps top and bottom. The image of these hoops will also be seen in the projected gobos on the two chimneys in this new public square. The lights are due to be completed towards the end of July. 

The poem is extracted from an evocative poem by John Trafford Clegg 'A Weighver's Song',  written in dialect about the life of weavers.

Massive thanks as always to Sebastien Boyesen. Thanks also to Burnley Council, Cecilia Whittaker, Helen Jones, Adam Lockett and James Moran-Zietek. 

Thanks is also due to Andrew Hilton for his photographs.

Zoetrope 2

Seaham seats

Two sets of seats were installed in Seaham in the north east coast on Friday. The finishing off and lighting will be completed in the next couple of days.

The two sets of granite seats include etched poems by local youngsters about the wind and sea. The glass is a zoetrope of waves crashing and spray splattering towards the end of the seat. People walk between the two granite/zoetrope seats towards the Primary Care Centre and animate the waves as they walk.

The two other seats are cast iron Captains chairs. The design was taken from a local shipwreck. There is a registry office diagonally opposite the Captains chairs and my hope is that bride and groom will sit here flanked by family and friends for some photographs. I hope too that planting behind the chairs masks the less romantic view of ASDA.

Massive thanks once again go to Seb Boyesen for all his excellent work on this project. Also David Proto for the animated glasswork. Thanks too to Anne Edwards and Durham County Council, Gareth Neil and Colin Robson. My thanks also to Simon Wilkins, Tom,  Martin and Glen.

Tea activated football predictor

Amazing evening light a couple of nights ago in the studio which illuminated the tea activated football predictor (tribute to Paul the predicting octopus). This is goalkeeper Gary from a crow's viewpoint.
The predictor should be ready in two months time. The contraption will sit on top of a hot pot of tea and then go about predicting the exact score of any selected match.