Irwell Sculpture Trail
'Arresting Time', Irwell Sculpture Trail.
The Irwell Sculpture Trail follows the 30-mile length of the River Irwell from the West Pennine Moors to Manchester City Centre, and was one of the largest and most ambitious public sculpture projects in Europe. Jill Randall was commissioned in 2000 to create a major site-specific sculpture for a riverbank site adjacent to an industrial estate.
Ideas for the form and content of the sculpture were developed from a year-long Residency at Magnesium Elektron, a magnesium-processing factory close to the site. The Residency involved research into the qualities and manufacturing processes of magnesium, and the casting and recycling processes employed by the factory. Ideas focussed on ‘sacrificial anodes’ which prevent corrosion in steel, and so “arrest time”.
As part of the commission, Randall introduced an innovative approach to public engagement, setting up studio within the factory for 18 months, and allowing the workforce open access ,consulting and collaborating directly with employees to develop ideas for the sculpture.
The resultant sculpture”Arresting Time”, is a major work fabricated in steel, copper, brass, stainless steel and magnesium, and overhangs the River Irwell.
Reviews: “Sculpture” magazine, April 2004, pp 22-23.
Inclusion in book ,“Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester”-Public Sculpture of Britain .Vol. 8 by Terry Wyke, pp 275, 458, 170, 196-7.
Photography: Jill Randall.