Setting up The Ripple Effect at Lacock

Last week-end we began the set up of The Ripple Effect – the installation we are creating for the Chaplains’ Room at Lacock.  After weeks of planning and testing it was great to be at the point of bringing it all together.

The idea in itself is quite simple, but it has taken a few trials and errors with different fabrics and fans to get to this point. We did a test earlier in the summer, but it wasn’t with a full size piece of fabric so we were not totally sure on how the floor, the stone pillar and the air circulation would affect the overall movement and flow of the silk.

The Chaplains’ Room is also quite damp, so the weight of the silk will change throughout the day; small variations, but they still will have an effect on the overall movement and flow. 

Testing the silk fabric in the Chaplains’ Room in July 2018

Laying the protective layer on the floor

Unravelling the silk

The silk was made up to be oversized in length so that we could see the effect of the silk in the space and adjust it on site. It was quite a thrilling moment when we switched on  the fans for the first time and the air rippled beneath the silk. At that point the silk was laid out at its longest length and the result was quite spectacular – huge billowing waves.

The following day was just spent observing the movements of the silk and adjusting the fabric with weights around the edge to see the different effects. If the silk is held down too tightly it just kills the energy of the waves, so it was a fine balance to get it right.

Most of the fabric was pre-sewn except the area where the central stone pillar is. This had to be cut out and hand sewn around the pillar. The effect of the pillar is similar to a boulder in a river; the movement of the silk flows past the pillar like water around a rock, with the area behind the pillar remaining much calmer.

Observations of light at Lacock

Lacock is known for being the birthplace of British photography.  William Henry Fox Talbot and his family lived in the abbey and the layout of the space is similar to the one today. The Talbots’s remodelled the South Gallery, including the window which William captured in his first photographic negative in August 1835.

During our visits to Lacock we have had the opportunity to see the site at different times of the day. These images are some of our observations on how light falls and leaves it mark on the fabric and artefacts of Lacock.

The window which Fox Talbot captured in his first image

The window which Fox Talbot photographed through in 1835

Light falling through the window onto the floor boards below

Sunlight casting shadows on the curtains

Coral on sun-faded red cloth

Sun-faded fabric

Oil painting

John Piper’s painting

Detail of John Piper’s painting

The Cauldron in the Warming Room, the Cloisters

Chimneys

Lacock Abbey

The Cloisters – space near the Monastic Drain

Blossoms at night

Sunrise

 

 

 

 

 

The traces and marks of Lacock

The south Cloister at Lacock Abbey with the Chaplains’ Room at the end

Every visit to Lacock reveals something different.  The Cloisters are full of marks and traces which give clues to how people used and occupied the space.  For instance each Stonemason carved their signature into the stone to identify their work and to serve as a proof of build to ensure that they were correctly paid. The chip marks in this stonework were there in order to provide a hold for the plaster.

The plaster and stonework in the Cloisters

The Chaplains’ Room which is at the end of the South Cloister has traces of medieval wall paintings and monastic graffiti. The one of the rabbit scratched into the plaster works looks like it could have been done yesterday!

Monastic Graffiti

The grafitti below reads ‘JOHAN fecit hoe’ meaning ‘John did this’ and is attributed to one of the Chaplains.  The material used for the wall is limestone rubble and plaster which is made from slaked lime and alluvial shale.

Monastic Graffiti

Painting in the Chaplains’ Room depicting St Andrew and St Christopher (circa 1275)

Ripples in the floor of the Cloisters

Ripples in the Infirmary Passage in the Cloisters

The Abbess’ ‘squint’ – a spy hole in the stairway outside the Chaplains’ Room

In the south-west corner of the Cloisters, just outside the Chaplains’ Room is a stairway which was used by the Abbess to go to and from  her apartments to the Cloisters and Abbey Church.  A little way  up the stairway is the Abbess’ ‘squint’. This is a small section of masonry which has been removed from the vaulting and which enabled the Abbess to look through and ‘observe’ the Nuns.

The Tudor Courtyard

On one of our visits we were shown around inside the Tudor building and taken to the Clock Tower.  The space inside smelt warm and woody and outside through the windows we could hear the swifts calling.

Looking out across to the Tudor courtyard and buildings where the tea room resides

Inside the Tudor building looking out to the courtyard

Inside the roof space of the Tudor building

One of the Tudor roof beams.  Burn marks can be see on the underside of the beam

We were shown burn marks in the beams which had been deliberately made by holding a lit candle up to scorch the wood. Their purpose was to act as sympathetic magic to ward off malignant or accidental fires.

It is unclear just how much of the pseudo-theology behind these marks was understood by the people who made them. They may have represented ‘good luck’, protection from ‘bad luck’ or simply the power to deter witches.

The mechanism of the clock.  It is a long-held tradition to set the clock 5 minutes fast!

The tour through the roof space was rewarded by the winding of the clock which occurs once a week.  It has been a long-held tradition that the clock is set 5 minutes fast with the hope that the residents of Lacock village will always be on time.  The National Trust tea shop however does not observe the ‘Lacock’ time!

1960’s ‘cat flap’ cut out from one of the doors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace – Trust New Art Commission at National Trust’s Lacock Abbey

National Trust’s Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire

Over the summer we have been working on a new project for National Trust’s Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, which explores the theme of Peace within the context of this unique site. Lacock was founded as a nunnery by Lady Ela, the Countess of Salisbury, one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages, and was a place for contemplation for 300 years.

We are interested in making connections with this legacy and finding out from the people who work and visit here what peace means to them from a contemporary perspective. Over the summer we have been visiting Lacock to talk to staff and volunteers to find out their thoughts and undertake further research for the installation we are creating.

View looking towards the Chaplains’ Room entrance in the cloisters of Lacock Abbey

Our plans

We will be making a temporary piece of work for the Chaplains’ Room which is situated off the south-west corner of the cloister. It will involve creating a floating silk floor made to fit the shape of the Chaplains’ Room.  The silk floor will be raised off the ground beneath which a series of fans will be placed causing the entire area to flow with undulating ripples.  A section of the floor which will be left uncovered  to allow enough room for people to enter the room and immerse themselves in the installation.

A combination of LED lighting and natural light will illuminate the space and rippling silk. A soundscape developed from sounds recorded from around Lacock will add to this immersive experience.

The installation coincides with the centenary anniversary of Armistice Day and the silk picks up on these associations and its use in times of conflict and peace during both World Wars.  Armistice Silk – a re-finished silk made from the 18 million yards of surplus silk cartridge cloth at the end of World War 1 and the silk military parachutes, were both used to make clothes during and after the wars.

Development of the idea

The seed for our initial idea grew out of our observations of the spaces around the cloisters and the way in which time has left its mark on the fabric of the building. There is a sense that people have passed through the space and the building seems to gently hold a residue of the life that has flowed through it.  There is an atmosphere that becomes apparent when entering Lacock that time slows. The wave-like forms polished into some of the compacted mud floors seem to express this.

For us, when visiting Lacock, there is a tangible feeling that we have become part of the tradition of people drawn to this place of contemplation. The nature of the pillar and arches in the Chaplains’ Room convey a sense of having sunk down into the layers of history and architecture.  Our installation will pick up on this and create a space through which the slow and ancient erosion of the site can appear to flow like a time-lapse sequence.

Ripples formed over time in the cloister floor at Lacock Abbey