the sun spoke

This new project creating public artworks for new housing schemes in Cambridge was commissioned by resonance-cambridge. As I'm working across a number of sites I've decided o work with a series of forms that are flexible and can offer continuity in different locations. The project includes one-word poems realised on a series of poem-objects, including nest-boxes, beehives and bicycles. I tend to make artworks that use what artists like to call readymades, meaning things that already exist, for instance, nest-boxes or beehives. People always appreciate nest-boxes, for the good they do, and because they are simple objects. In this context nest-boxes and beehives are also recognisably homes. They can be painted and have a poem added, but still be used by birds and beekeepers. They can be living sculptures, which are shared with nature. Some of these readymade artworks – I call them poem-objects because they all have a text added – are intended to be used, enjoyed, and cared for, by individual residents, while still remaining on display in public places. I was pleased to see that there are already plans to include nest-boxes at The Meadows.

We use a bench when we sit on it but, with a beehive that has a poem on it, there is the choice whether it is simply a decorative poem-object, or used to keep bees in. I much prefer use but, either way, it remains in public view, as an artwork. People love beehives as objects, but the presence of bees affects where it can be sited. The sites include green rooftops (The Meadows, Colville Rd) and community gardens (The Meadows), so there are a variety of possibilities. The fact that an artwork can be used is always a good thing, but it requires careful thought and, sometimes, negotiation. This idea of art being useful sometimes surprises people, but most of the things we care for are also things we use.

I believe any difficulties this presents are worth overcoming, especially in a time when we are aware of ecological issues, and the impact of Coronavirus. We need to encourage people to produce honey, keep fruit trees and use bicycles; we need to help them to help one another. Some poem-objects can be cared for by the community, others are better suited to belong to one person – though they can be handed on after a period of time. This is where negotiation comes in. The plans for elements like a community garden provide a context for this.

In terms of the poems, think of them as a mapping of the sites – and Cambridge – and as a menu of possibilities. I will add more poems and I am happy to receive suggestions as to subjects to write about. You will see I have used a simple but unusual form: the one-word poem. It helps to think of these as a collection of playful definitions, often punning on the fluid meanings that our language conceals. Puns are a reminder that things change, that they can be transformed, whether in reality or imagination. For example, a rent is a rip, as well as what we owe; a hood protects us and defines where we live. The gain of poems like these is that they are easy to read, but they have a cryptic aspect that people work out over time. 

Some of the poems were written for a poem-object which is installed – or lives – alongside – or on – a species of tree, trellis, espalier, or landmark. The notes I have added here explain some of the associations. Some poems are specific to a house or tree. The mature London Plane at the meadows would be suitable for a nest-box with a poem on plane. A poem on walnut was written for the existing specimen at The Meadows site. Other poems refer more generally to the city, its river, bridges, the railway, and nearby hills – there is flexibility about where these are installed – and a few are included because they work well with the others, making a kind of family of poetry and meaning. 

The poems are a team, but the final selection hasn’t, by any means, been made. That will depend which poems work best in terms of the sites, which people like, and how many artworks the budget allows. 

Whether a poem is on a beehive, a bicycle, or nest-box, is bound to change its meaning. Sometimes a poem is simple, quiet, even ordinary, but it works in a site because it draws attention to a particular thing that people are fond of, like the avenue of limes, whose bracts are traditionally known as keys.

Other poems refer to the history of the city, for instance, the old film reels shown at the Kinema on Mill Rd. There are also names to respond to, like Akeman Street, Oak-man Street, which may refer to The Green Man, a Pre-Christian Earth Spirit, and is also the name of a local pub, which shows how these old beliefs persist. These meanings are part of the city’s memory, just as much as modern figures such as Professor John Venn, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Syd Barrett.

There are also poems referring to modern technology, such as social media and solar power, as well as references to the railway, which changed Cambridge. Other poems refer to older traditions, such as choral evensong.

Some of the poems suggest images which, in turn, suggest made forms that will inform the design of the artworks. For example, the bicycle wheel suggests the wheel of the seasons, and its spokes to rays of the sun. These forms can be integrated into the design of trellis or espalier, used for growing fruit trees. This gave the project a title, the sun spoke. (Given the strong identity of each site a title isn’t strictly necessary; it helps me think through how the poems inform the poem-object designs, and the designs influence the poems. I like the feeling that the sun is speaking to us, as both a healing and warning). For example, a poem punning on the word fan can be installed near a plum tree trained to grow in a fan-form, using espalier. Not everyone will know what an espalier is, so an explanatory one-word poem offers a poetic explanation: ‘BUD, LEAN ON ME’. Espaliers require more care than ordinary trees, so this will depend on establishing a local group interested in fruit cultivation.

The intention is to create enough poems, so that they can be scattered across the various sites, creating a family of forms and ideas, on poem-objects. I’m not concerned that some of the poems won’t be used: what matters is that the artworks become useful and fond objects that help the community adapt to a sustainable and friendly way of life. Increasingly the government is guiding us all to change the way we live and work in response to the pandemic, telescoping changes that climate breakdown made necessary. We can follow this wave of interest in sustainability. 

If there is one person who falls in love with a wood bicycle bearing a playful one-word poem, and they are willing to ride to work on it and then secure it to a trellis frame stand near their home at the end of the day, the project has succeeded. The sculpture will be seen as it moves through the city. I will make these bikes available to buy, at cost price, o the people of Cambridge, each with its own unique poem, as well as providing a limited number free for a year to residents.

The trellis is my way of integrating the poem-objects into a single recognisable scheme across the various sites. If the budget allowed it could also be used to decorate the community hub, recycling areas, sheds, stores, and create bicycle shelters, if it was adopted as a design element. The most obvious use of the trellis is to create a secure storage location for the bicycle, visible as an artwork, with, on the other side, a fruit tree espalier.

I have included some sketches from my notebook to share the process of developing the work. Most of these are very informal sketches, and the images aren’t related to the final outcome. 

The Capturing Cambridge and Mill Rd History websites were an invaluable resource in preparing these poems. 

The sketch on the first page shows a fruit tree trained into a sun or wheel form, using an espalier. At the end there are more developed sketches for trellis forms, using circle/wheel, which allows people to view a particular poem-object or landmark, and angled verticals, which refer to the sun’s rays or bicycle spokes.

Apologies for the quality of the images; I was unable to access a scanner at this time due to my studio being closed.

Recently a friend told me a well-known story about China. At a crucial juncture in the modernisation process Mao asked Joseph Needham, the renowned scholar of Chinese science who taught at Cambridge, whether China should allow people to change from bicycles to using cars. Needham is said to have replied,” well, in Cambridge I use a bicycle”. "Fine," said Mao, "then we'll stick with bicycles." This delayed the greenhouse effect considerably.

poems for bicycles

The bicycle is the most popular mode of transport in Cambridge. I wanted to celebrate its use and play with the form, as well as exploring the symbolism of the wheel and spokes, in connection to the sun (rays) and the seasons. It’s a concept that has some difficulties in terms of practicalities, because a bicycle moves around, but the idea of a moving artwork is also very attractive.

One particular design, wood bicycles, made by the Sandwichbicycle company, would make an ideal poem-object. They have wooden surfaces that can bear text or imagery. I’m interested in these artworks having a dual role as poem-objects displayed in public – using a special trellis stand they can be secured to – and being seen as they tour around town. I imagine them belonging to someone in the community on an annual or long-term loan, on condition they are displayed in public – on the trellis stand – and treated reasonably. I would also offer some for sale, at cost price, to residents, as a way to expand the artwork. Some of the sites are integrated within cycle routes. We could explore working with Cambridge Cycling Campaign and other green organisations to further this. I am keen that the artworks all have some clear environmental benefit and that we build a sense of local ownership. A bicycle poem-object is an exciting challenge. I would seek to work with the makers to develop bicycles specific to this project.

https://sandwichbikes.com

poem for a bicycle

A FIGURE THROWN

OVER THE AIR

shadow

Notes

This poem is after a line written by the Cambridge poet Tom Raworth (1938-2017). I have included memorial poems to a number of modern figures from Cambridge. It makes me think of cycling along on a summer evening, with one’s shadow following on the road, hedge or a wall. Any anxiety in the image is dispelled once one realises it is a shadow that is being thrown. The sketch shows a wood bicycle (to which a poem will be added), secured on its home trellis, where it lives when it is not in use.

poem for a bicycle

two forms of transport

PUSH-

bicycle

TUG-

  

boat

This simple pun is a reminder of the oddities of language and how we describe modes of transport, the things that push-and-pull us through the world.

THE PATH’S

SPEECH BUBBLE

puddle

Notes

I’ve always been interested in how we represent thought and speech visually. Here the cartoon speech bubble takes its place in a country lane scene, as a puddle reflecting the conversation we have with the skies and passers-by.

poem for a bicycle

PROTECTIVE

COVER

hood

Notes

In urban speech our hood is our home patch – whether that’s where we feel safe or where we feel protected from outsiders. Animals too have their territories, and undercover to hide in. In the world of people, the popularity of the hoodie reflects a time in which we live, paradoxically, a more open life in some ways, but still we like to conceal ourselves.

poem for a bicycle

SLOW:

TRAILER ON

THE PATH

snail

Notes

There is something pleasing about cycling slowly on flat roads. The silver glue-like marks left by a humble snail are not so different from the tyre tracks a bicycle trails behind it in the rain. The poem would appear on either side of the main strut: the word snail, or words, trailer on the path, visible to the viewer as someone cycles past.

poem for a bicycle

FOR ALL

SEASONS

cycle

Notes

The wheels of the bicycle, and the golden wheel of the sun, are two key motifs for this project. The bicycle providing a green form of transport. The sun ripening fruits and helping bees produce honey. The sun, in turn(ing), makes the seasons, which are a vehicle of time rather than motion, defining our journey through the year.

poem for a bicycle

LITTLE

GIANT

gog

Notes

The Gog Magog hills are said to be named for the last of the race of British giants, ruled over by their king, Albion. Gog lies buried beneath the hills. At 234 feet high these are little mountains; they were once claimed to be the location of the ancient city of Troy. Speeding our shadow along country roads on a bicycle we may sometimes feel like we have transformed into a small giant. On the bicycle artwork the poems would appear on either side of the main strut, like joke and punchline, or question and answer.

poem for a bicycle

I MAKE

ENDS MEET

bridge

Notes

This poem was written for the Mill Road Bridge that connects – and divides – the wards

of Romsey and Petersfield, but it speaks to any of the local bridges. It suggests the quiet satisfaction of making do, for instance, the economic savings and ecological benefits of having a bicycle. On a bicycle the poems would appear on either side of the main strut. 

2. poems for nest-boxes

The nest-box is one of the most successful poem-objects I have worked with in the past. They tend to be installed out of reach of vandals and are cheap to produce. People enjoy them and appreciate the sense of care for nature. They open up new views and vistas. The poems refer to fruit trees and espalier, which I am keen to install, and are connected with simple but innovative trellis designs I am developing. The trellis would be a visual device – and motif – integrating the various artworks, e.g. as a place to secure/store the poem bicycles, as a site to hang a nest-box, as a shelter for a beehive or bench. The trellis can integrate (bicycle) spoke, fan, (sun) ray and wheel motifs. Below is an example of a nest-box poem, painted the colour of the tree’s leaves.

four poems for nest-boxes on a trellis

(or) by an espalier of fruit trees (quince)

A GOLD 

COIN

quince

AN ADORING

CIRCLE

fan

A SUCCESSION

OF COLOURS

seasons

THE SUN: HERE, THERE,

& EVERYWHERE

scorchio

Notes

These poems are my playful pastoral. A quince was once known as a coyne or coin, from Latin Malum cotoneum, or Malum cydonium, apple of Cydonia, referring to a region of Crete. It would complement Emma Smith’s medlar and crab apple artworks. Someone with fans may be encircled with adoration. The fan echoes the form of spokes and sun’s rays which are key motifs for this project; my sketches are exploring ways in which these could be represented in the trellis designs. The seasons – another cycle or fan – produce our favourite displays of blossom, flowers and leaves; colours also act as a guide for bees. An espalier can grow a fruit tree in the form of the sun or a wheel. Hopefully everyone remembers scorchio from The Fast Show – a humorous anticipation of global warming. There is also an echo of two Beatles songs. The sketch (below) shows how a trellis could be used to install a nest-box, rather than a tree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZMUAd7OJc8

four poems for nest-boxes on a trellis

(or) by an espalier of fruit trees

AMPLE

SAMPLE

blossom

POWDER-

COATED

pollen

THROW-

AWAY

petal

HINGE

& TINGE

autumn

Notes

These pastoral poems suggest an orchard of blossoms, petals, and pollen. The poems are brief, like brushstrokes, but read together they resonate – petals fall, pollen scatters, and blossom is like a sampler of colours. The final poem celebrates autumn and the end of the fruit season, as the colours of leaves turn, and we hinge into winter. 

poem for a nest-box on a fruit tree

TEA WITH

BLOSSOMS

the orchard

Notes

This poem refers to the famous tea garden, near Grantchester. Of course, there are teas that contain blossoms of bergamot and other flora. The nest-box would be installed in any fruit tree planted in the Anston Way development. 

           

three poems on the theme of home 

for nest-boxes

IN VIEW

OF MY FLAT

debt

A RIP

TO MEND

rent

SHELTER

IN PLACE

home

Notes

The first poem is after the Latin poet Catullus, known for his scabrous wit. The second puns on the meaning of rent, as a tear and something we pay – the word derives from Sanskrit, randhra, hole, and rent makes a hole in our pocket. The third adopts one of the phrases that came to define the early stages of the Coronavirus crisis, becoming part of our lexicon. The poems are a reminder of the virtues, stresses, and constraints of homelife.

four poems on the names of tree species

for nest-boxes

A SOUTHERN LIGHT

WEPT IN THE NORTHERN AIR

plane

BLUE BRANCHES POURED

BY A BLUE BRIDGE

willow

THE PEEP OF

AMBIENT COLOURS

maple

THE AVENUE

OF KEYS

lime

Notes

The first poem refers to an ancient oriental plane tree in the grounds of Emmanuel College, celebrated by the Spanish poet Luis Cernuda in his poem ‘El Arból’; the seeds are thought to have been brought back from Thermopylae by students in 1802. The second poem refers to the famous willow pattern porcelain tea service which remains popular to this day. This featured a temple, bridge and willow tree; 3 figures were added later, and a Chinese love story invented. The final poem refers to people’s fondness for the autumn colours of the maple. There is a well-known avenue of limes by Mill Rd Cemetery; the bracts – dry-winged fruit produced by the lime – are traditionally known as keys, creating a gently Surreal image. These poems could go with plantings of the named species, or the nest-boxes could be added to existing trees. Below, sketch from my notebook referring to the oriental plane at Emmanuel. There are mature London Plane at the Meadows site.

two poems for nest-boxes

in a park or by a lawn

GAUZES 

grasses

A DARK THREAD

TACKED ACROSS

A GREEN BLANKET

path

Notes

The first poem refers to the common fabric of the grass, in a park, makes a green space which the highlights of flora are seen against. The poem plays on the similar sounds. The second poem is an image of the blanket that the grass makes, with a path sewn across.

poem for a nest-box

LESS THAN A CALL

OR SONG

tweet

Notes

This poem is a playful reminder that we live in a contemporary world of social media, and yet we are also embedded in nature.

poem for a nest-box

THE GREEN MAN’S

FRIEND

akeman

Notes

Akeman Street, or oak-man – possibly referring to The Green Man or Jack o’ the Green, a Pre-Christian Earth Spirit – was the name of the Roman road that ran from Ermine St, in Durlipons – the Roman name for Cambridge, which means ferry-crossing or floating bridge. There is a Green Man pub in Trumpington.

poem for a nest-box in a fruit tree

or for a beehive

STYLE

blossom

TASTE

fruit

Notes

Some one-word poems work best in pairs. Like the keys of the lime, style has a second meaning, from botany: the narrow, typically elongated extension of the ovary, bearing the stigma, in a flower. We speak of style and taste as cultural values, which contribute to the appearance of the manmade world, but they just as much refer to nature and the art of cultivation. Below is an example of a poem beehive; this is installed at Cylinders in Langdale, where Kurt Schwitters created his Merzbarn.

two poems for a nest-box

LITTLE

PRELUDE

dawn

PEACH

LIGHT

sunset

A WASH OF

FADING COLOURS

dusk

Notes

The dawn chorus is one kind of natural music, a prelude to the working day. The third poem imagines the sunset sky as bedsheets. There is something comforting in domestic imagery, the sky like bedsheets.

poem for a nest-box

by an espalier of fruit trees

A NATURAL

ORDER

cluster

Notes

Whether apples on a tree or people standing around together, one of the ways that nature gathers itself is the cluster. It has no fixed term and yet we understand it as a natural measure. 

poem for a nest-box

DATA

ta-da!

Notes

I wanted to offer a poem that would playfully refer to the importance of technology, AI, analytical data, and computer science in Cambridge, Silicon Fen. To many of us, the ability of such technologies to change our lives feels like – ta-da! – a magic trick, beyond our understanding.

poem for a nest-box

A LINE

THAT LEAVES

railway

Notes

Green forms of transport are another theme I refer to. Some of the sites we are working on are near the railway – e.g. Mill Rd, an area greatly changed by the arrival of the line. This humorous poem is a reminder of delays, as well as being a gentle memory of departure.

poem for a nest-box or bench

“WHY ISN’T A LANGUAGE

WITH ONLY ONE WORD POSSIBLE?”

because …

Notes

This poem is after Ludwig Wittgenstein, who taught at Cambridge. He asks this question in The Big Typescript TS213. I have added a playful – perhaps childish? – answer of my own. 

poem for a bench or nest-box

A SILENT

REEL

kinema

Notes

A fond homage to the long-gone cinema, known as Kinema, or colloquially The Fleapit, that existed on Mill Rd. It opened in 1916 and ran for 60 years. Scholars House was built on this site.

poem for a nest-box or bench

near an allotment or community garden

A CRECHE 

FOR COBWEBS

shed

Notes

The shed is one of the most loveable forms of popular architecture, much loved by spiders. If there are any sheds – for instance, in the community garden at The Meadows –on the sites being developed, then this poem has a home. I intend to produce far more poems than we need and then consult in terms of which work best, using the possibilities of the site as a guide.

poem for a nest-box by an espalier

BUD, LEAN

ON ME

espalier

Notes

I’m keen to use the espalier style of fruit tree cultivation somewhere in the project. This could be a way to grow a spoke, cycle or fan form. The word itself comes from the French, which in turn derives from Italian spalliera, meaning something to rest the shoulder (spalla) against – which is exactly how the wires support the branches and buds.

poem for a nest-box

A DELAY

OF THE LIGHT

shade

Notes

This poem and nest-box could belong in any suitable mature tree. In the poems, I was drawn to imagery of light and shade. My awareness of the sun has felt particularly poignant this Spring, with the experience of lockdown and my own period of coronavirus.

poem for a bench or nest-box 

near, or with a view of, the Cam and/or Snobs Brook

TAKE A TURN

IN THE WATER

cam

SPLASH OUT –

IT’S ALL GOING

SO SWIMMINGLY!

snobs

Notes

The name cam means crooked, from the river’s meandering course. Snobs Brook is a tributary – or leat (mill race) – of the Cam, where local children have traditionally learnt to swim.

3. poems for beehives

There is no object more poetic than a beehive. They always make people happy when they are on public display, in a time when the importance of pollination is so well understood. And yet, understandably, clients can be anxious about installing them. There are out of the way places, including green roofs, that hives can belong, and still be in public view. They may also be used without bees, as decorative artworks, as in this sketch (below) integrated with a trellis. We can seek local beekeepers to take care of these artworks and also work with Cambridgeshire beekeepers.

(https://www.cbka.org.uk)

poem for a beehive

ORCHARD

Y

Notes

There were many orchards in Cambridge. The Mill Rd History Society records a three-acre orchard ‛planted with choice fruit trees’, behind the windmill on Mill Rd, which was laid out by George Gobbett Humfrey. Each tree combines a stock and graft, represented here in the branching letter Y – a one-letter poem rather than a one-word poem, and yet it reminds us how language, or script, relates to natural forms.

poem for a beehive

or nest-box within view of solar panels

THE OLD SOUL

IN THE CELL

sol

Notes

The various sun-themed poems are suitable for the Anstey Way development, which includes photovoltaic solar panels, or any other site that uses this technology. I have done a lot of art projects relating to renewable energy and it’s important to celebrate its role in sustainability.  The honey and comb cells in a beehive are a natural expression of a store of concentrated energy, in which the sun is translated into sugar. One of the common folk names for the sun is Old Sol. 

poems for a beehive

SINGING-

CLOUD

swarm

Notes

This is exactly how a 19^th century treatise on beekeeping by Tickner Edwardes – The Lore of the Bee – describes a swarm of bees.

4. Other poem-objects

There are already benches planned. I like the designs. I’d be interested whether trellises could be integrated. Other ideas for installing some of the texts listed above and below would no doubt occur following site visits and discussions.

The trellis designs I have included are at a very early stage of development and not intended as definite proposals. The poems, on the other hand, feel relatively resolved as a body of work.

            

poem for a bench

SEEN

AHEAD

view

SEEN

BEHIND

path

Notes

This pair of poems reminds us how we evaluate our lives as a series of future prospects that lead on from the single path we’ve followed – while the bench functions as the moment of now in which we pause, between past and future.

poem for a bench

MEET ME

IN THE MIDDLE

venn

poem for a bench 

near a church or cathedral

THE TREMULOUS LINE

HAS BROKEN

evensong

Notes

Benjamin Britten celebrated the tremulous beauty of the top line of boy’s treble voices in Church choral music, just before they break. Increasingly mixed choirs are encouraged, which introduces a male and female top line and breaks the all-male cathedral choral tradition. 

poem for a bench

ON A 

ROLL

stroll

Notes

A relaxed poem that pictures a leisure walk, when we are happy to wander without purpose.

two Cambridge themed one-word poems

A STAR ABOVE

ST MARGARET’S SQUARE

shine on

MY TIME

IN THE SUN

sundial

Notes

These poems continue the theme of shining – in this case stars and sun. They don’t have objects yet, but they are locally themed. The first refers to the home on St Margaret’s Square of the reclusive Syd Barrett (ex- Pink Floyd); many neighbours kept Syd’s presence secret to protect his privacy. It draws on the lyrics of ‘Terrapin’, from Barrett’s first solo album, The Madcap Laughs, as well as Pink Floyd’s homage to Syd, ‘Shine on you crazy diamond’. The second poem was inspired by a sundial at Ely Cathedral with an inscription in Greek that translates: know, or choose, the timely moment. 

poem for a moon-gate

NIGHT’S SPOOL

DAY’S SEAL

moon

Notes

An early idea I had was to create a moon-gate within a trellis wall; this poem is intended for that design concept. It may be beyond the budget. The moon is like a spool which unwinds as it waxes and wanes, or like a seal imprinted on the night sky. This (below) is a shop made variety.

poem for a walnut tree

OLD FRUIT

FOR BRAINS

walnut

Notes

A nut is a fruit with a hard shell. The wrinkles and folds of the walnut give it an appearance similar to a human brain. This poem has the ring of a healthy eating campaign. It also adds to the presence of fruit and nut trees as a form of local natural energy in my work and that of Emma Smith. There is an existing mature walnut at The Meadows site which could have a nest-box installed, bearing this poem.

four poems on the theme of the sun

WHO’S YOUR PAL

BEHIND THE HILL?

sun

WHO POCKETED

THE SUN?

night

MY LITTLE SUN

KEPT IN CHAINS

daisy

MY BEST PAL

WHEN I FEEL BLUE

ray

Notes

The first poem replays my favourite joke where two cavemen are watching the sun set and one says to the other that “there must be hundreds of those behind that hill by now”, a fine expression of our local view of the world.

poem for a nest-box in or near a medlar

FRUIT OF

FANTASY

medlar

Notes

In Grigson’s The Englishman’s Flora there is a reference to Du Hamel describing the medlar in this way, who criticised its lack of utlilty, compared to standard crops. Sir John Harrington writes that its common name is fit to be forgotten, for the medlar is known as the open arse, which the crown of the fruit is said to resemble. It was also sometimes called dog’s bottom, or, in French, cul de chien. If Emma Smith is planting some medlar then she’d decide if this poem appeared or not. I wouldn’t wish to intrude on her work and its intentions.

three possible poems for a nest-box 

by Cherry Hinton & Brookfields Medical Centre

THE EMBLEM

OF ILLNESS

thorn

THE HABIT

OF HEALING

regimen

TYPE

condition

KIND

person

Notes

These poems come from an unpublished collection on illness that I wrote over the past 2 years. One poem would be selected from these. The first would work best in a thorn tree, if one is present, or could be planted. The second plays on the relationship between recovery and daily life practice, whether a diet or yoga, and has some resonance with Emma Smith’s work of self-nurture. It is also pertinent to the era of Coronavirus when many people have changed their attitude to exercise.

poems for the new cycle stores, Colville Rd

or in a tree near The Kurser cycle-store

THE WHEEL WE

TURN AROUND

horizon

STILL A 

CIRCLE

wheel

Notes

The second poem is after Paul Klee, who said, ‘at least in all this uncertainty an egg-yolk is still circular’, 

as quoted by John Christie in I send you this cadmium red. The presence of the cycle-store at The Kurser makes an important local context for these poems. The place-name Cherry Hinton refers to cherry trees and a common old English term, hīwan: household, the members of a family, and tūn: an enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate.

CHERRY HINTON

cherry house-farmtown

other poems

LOVE SUFFERS

A COLLAPSE 

OF CONTEXT

lol

Notes

We can all remember when David Cameron’s lack of awareness of text acronyms was exposed; this poem may not belong in this project, but I like the echo of Sol and it is important to have some contemporary expressions.

AUTUMN’S

FURLOUGH

leave

Notes

a poem of the Covidvirus era.

BEFORE

after

THEN

now

NOW

then

Notes

the most minimal poems, exploring the passage of time

the sun spoke: further design concepts

I intend to develop a series of designs for trellis forms that play on the motif of the sun-ray and bicycle-spokes, using the circle/wheel and the arrangement of spokes as a starting point. 

I won’t make a replica bicycle wheel, given I hope to include real bicycles. I tend to separate the sun/wheel from the ray/spoke. The wheel can make a viewing frame or moon-gate, the spokes make a decorative device and can also be used for espalier. 

I’d like to explore the use of the trellis for securing a bicycle – used by a member of the community and returned to that stand, where it is on display – and, on the others side of the trellis are fruit trees, some in espalier, imitating wheel/ray/spoke forms. The artwork becomes a double good, bringing together the static tree of the turning seasons, and the mobile bicycle. The general feel is optimistic and community spirited. One person has use of and responsibility for a bicycle, another has the same relation to the fruit tree. (The person who volunteered can choose from a variety of fruit trees that we offer). 

A practical consideration is whether every trellis has a bicycle as, due to budget considerations, there may only be 1-3 bicycles in the project. Where a trellis has a bicycle this defines the design, the width being that of the bicycle. Two small shelves would be added to support the wheels, so that the bicycle can be secured off the ground, to display it as an artwork. The design of these wood bicycles is striking.

I’d keep the same standard design for most trellis, including any that don’t have a bicycle. They will become a framing devise or setting, for instance, the beehives can have a trellis wall behind them, the same width as the hive. Some nest-boxes can be installed on taller, narrower trellis, as well as going in trees.

I intend to use three colours, possibly in this scheme: (I) the bicycles are all one colour, relating to the fruits of the trees they belong with (mostly reds and greens); (II) possibly the main body of the trellis relates to blossoms (white, cream, pinkish); (III) and possibly the upper part in yellow. I need to trial these colours. The beehives will also be painted using fruit and blossom colours. As the members of the community will select the final fruit, in effect they also select the colours. There is a tradition of painting beehives, especially in Europe.

I have sketched and collected some bicycle spoke forms and trellis designs. I will discuss these with the maker. These designs are at an early stage, but they give me ideas for the process of community consultation.

Trellis Spec

 2200mm high x 1100mm wide. The outer frame being 45x70mm in section, the rays being 30x30mm. The sun element is 450mm wide, the frame is 40mm thick with a face of 60mm. 

The legs would be long enough to go 500mm into the ground. There may be other thoughts on installation from the client.

    

 

    

                  

       

        

Nest-boxes for Swifts

     

As well as creating traditional nest-boxes I’m keen to work with local swift enthusiasts to install nest-boxes for swifts on buildings. These have an ideal surface area for texts. They allow us to engage households as hosts of the artwork. There is also the option of a camera within a nest-box. Dick Newell who lives locally is active in terms of such projects and may also be able to advise on nest-boxes in general – which birds suit the sites, and how best to align the boxes.

http://actionforswifts.blogspot.com/2019/09/swift-brick-camera-box.html

‘This swift tower was built in 2011 on Logan's Meadow nature reserve … As often the case with swifts (Apus apus), it took them a while to discover the new nesting spaces, despite playing attraction calls.’

https://www.viridis.net/animals/cambridge-swift-tower.html

poem for a swift nest-box

SCREAM THROUGH THE AIR   :   swift

The screamer is a folk-name for the swift collected in Sussex, Wiltshire, and Somerset; similar to screw (Yorkshire), screecher (Glos), andsquealer (Ches).

2 beehives with a poem and a trellis (including a platform)

THE OLD SOUL

IN THE CELL

sol

SINGING-

CLOUD

swarm

Notes

The beehive is painted in the colours of a fruit tree planted on the other side of the trellis, or nearby (blossom, fruit and leaf).

Final texts

To select the final texts for 4 sun spoke trellis with bicycles, one beehive, and some nest-boxes, it’s important to consider, is the poem for the bike or for the trellis? Exactly how does it appear? If the real bikes don’t happen then the spokes are a reference to the city as bike-friendly, but the poem would have to appear on the trellis in some other way, such as a nest box, or painted on, which would require a sufficiently large surface.

A FIGURE THROWN

OVER THE AIR

shadow

STILL A 

CIRCLE

wheel

PROTECTIVE

COVER

hood

SLOW:

TRAILER ON

THE PATH

snail

A WHEEL FOR

ALL SEASONS

cycle

A GOLD 

COIN

quince

AN ADORING

CIRCLE

fan

A SUCCESSION

OF COLOURS

seasons

AMPLE

SAMPLE

blossom

POWDER-

COATED

pollen

THROW-

AWAY

petal

STYLE

blossom

TASTE

fruit

LITTLE

PRELUDE

dawn

PEACH

LIGHT

sunset

A WASH OF

FADING COLOURS

dusk

A DELAY

OF THE LIGHT

shade

ORCHARD

Y

WHO’S YOUR PAL

BEHIND THE HILL?

sun

WHO POCKETED

THE SUN?

night

MY LITTLE SUN

KEPT IN CHAINS

daisy

MY BEST PAL

WHEN I FEEL BLUE

ray