Greenwich 2004, April 1st
( two years later ... it is renamed by the inhabitants " the seat
of Knowledge ")
Commissionned by Richard Upton
To start with, the location is a historical place, charged with power,
sufferings and human aspirations.
It represents for me a symbol of historic England.
"This
royal throne of Kings,this sceptered isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm,
This England."
"
One more we sit on the England's
Royal throne, repurchased with the blood of our enemy "
William Shakespeare, Richard II
It
is also a place where live and work students, running after graduation,
to become powerful one day, to be part of the elite, but to do what?
It is also where so many different people live, work, wander, where a
common reflection about what they are looking for may be pertinent.
It is also a place that needs something that suits the grandeur of the
nearby Maritime Museum and University; it is the specific place from where
England has built its empire. The location is also a cross-point between
these historic sites, the Cutty Sark and the Park…
So,
it is impossible to install there a common sculpture just for its look
or its design. It must reflect the spirit of the place. It must be a door
to the future, a place to pause, from which you can contemplate the universe.
It must symbolise the loneliness of power that you may test, sitting in
a Zen position in this Wagnerian situation.
Therefore, only a throne could fit, a beautiful one, made of brass, in
a space protected from the elements and the noise, facing the street,
the outside world.
Anybody can sit on it and have a rest in a comfortable manner, in a position of power, where one can ruminate: 'What shall I do with my life?'
The envelope combines maritime symbols and movements spouting from the ground. And like in a warrior's helmet lying on the battlefield, you enter the screaming cavity and you sit, snuggled like a brain in a skull.
It had to be a contemporary sculpture with a classic touch: handmade, spot-welded, and made of brass to last.
(Traduction Corine Fegan)
have the courage to be true to themselves,
the world is a Kingdom for those who search inside"
The Greenwich Navy Museum
Hyde University
Devonport Court
King William Walk
GREENWICH