What is the wing project?
The wing project is a twenty-five foot pair of flameworked glass dove wings that will hang in the North Transept of Chichester Cathedral in England from October 8th, 2011 for over three months.
Why have a huge pair of glass wings at Chichester Cathedral?
Because it is going to be completely amazing.
My intention is for this work to create a place of wonder for the over 103,000 people who would be expected to visit the Cathedral while the wings are in the North Transept.
People visit Chichester Cathedral for lots of reasons including: attending services, looking at the architecture, prayer, listening to concerts, and to seek solace. This sculpture aims to positively impact the experience of being in the Cathedral for all visitors no matter what the reason for their visit.
The wings will be made from approximately three hundred individual feathers. Each feather starts out as a tube of borosilicate glass, and through fire, gravity, scissors and me, is formed hot into a feather, each one unique. The feathers are sandblasted on one side making them appear white but still able to transmit light. Each feather will be independently suspended from a metal frame, hanging from the ceiling 61 feet above the ground and be supported in the space between the ceiling and the roof, and additionally be attached at four points to the upper balcony clerestory, 40 feet above the floor.
My artistic practice explores connection and disconnection and is comprised of sculpture, performance and installation using flameworked glass. The wing project for Chichester Cathedral has involved all aspects of my practice and is my most ambitious project to date, pushing my practice well beyond the limits of what I have so far achieved in scale, and once installed, will provide a benchmark for larger projects.
I use flameworking as a means of social inclusion. During my residency at Chichester Cathedral and West Dean College in February of this year, I had a studio set up in the North Transept of the Cathedral, directly below where the wings will hang. This provided the Cathedral and myself with a very different means of engagement with the visitors. I made feathers and explained the project, but also made glass bubbles for a time-based installation that grew over the period of my residency. Working with school groups, the public, staff, and the clergy, I asked everyone to put any concept of the word spirit into the glass bubbles I was making and these were hung in an enclosed section of the cloisters. I stressed that there were no wrong answers, any concept, according the participants, and the answers could be totally conceptual like exposing the hole in the bubble to organ music, to small sculptures and mixed media works that were both within and on the outside of the bubbles. At West Dean College, I held a similar event with approximately thirty people simultaneously speaking, humming or singing their ideas into the bubbles that were then hung in a candle-lit greenhouse where the event took place.
Such an event will be part of the opening ceremony for the wings in a dark cathedral slowly lit with candles and simultaneous vocal expression of any concept of the word spirit in the place of wonder I hope to achieve in the North Transept. You are invited to be a part of this event whether you can attend or not.
Your Involvement
This project is only possible with the help of many people. I would be so grateful for your help by making a donation of any size. IndieGoGo is great because if you pay by PayPal, I am able to access funds as soon as they are pledged and much of the expenses will be due before the end of the drive. I am grateful for all kinds of support. There is an exciting list of perks on the right of this page, available from as little as $10. If you are unable to contribute at this time with a pledge, but are enthusiastic about the project, your enthusiasm is contagious! Please spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, or blogging and you can use the share tools or links at the bottom of this page. Good old word of mouth is great too! I am truly grateful for your support.
Funds raised will pay for:
Building, installation, and eventual de-installation of the framework from which the feathers will hang.
Scaffolding to hold the rigging and winches.
Rental and, when less expensive, purchase of specialised equipment to lift the framework that will hold the wings. The framework will be lifted through the boss in the area between the ceiling and the roof of the Cathedral, with four additional lifting control systems at the upper balcony clerestory level. Qualified, licensed operators must be hired to do this work.
Assistant for hanging feathers including food and accommodation.
If I can raise funds above the goal amount, they will be used to pay for glass, gas, oxygen, lathe rental, to make the feathers, which I have paid for from personal funds.
It is a huge honor to have my work on exhibit at Chichester Cathedral, but I must raise all the funds myself.
This is a big project and I can't do it alone! I have many people to thank for the work already done:
Paragon Kilns who sent a kiln from Texas for the residency!
Arts Trust Scotland
North Lands Creative Glass
Kirstin Binnie
Edinburgh College of Art
University of Sunderland
Peter Davies
Robin Cameron
James Maskrey
AA2A
You can read about this project on the Official Chichester Cathedral website here:
http://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/dyn/pages/whats-on/visualising-spirit-wings-for-chichester-cathedral.shtml
You can read about my residency at Chichester Cathedral on their website here:
http://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/dyn/pages/whats-on/artist-in-residence-flameworker.shtml
If you would be interested in supporting this project or sharing it with others, please click on the IndieGoGo box to the left. You can find out everything on their website!
You can pledge for as little as $10.
The wonderful donors to whom I am so grateful:
Nancy Sutcliffe
Amanda Simmons
Ruth MacDougal
Anne & Bob Benson
Sharon Westermoe & Robert Fertig
Mark Holford
Anonymous
Iain Luke
Sabine Little
Douglas Lough
Jim and Sarah Buckland
Judy Anderson
Patrick Blythe
Colin Reid
Anonymous
Bruce Munro
Natasha George
Rick Ruggles
Sarah Blood
Rachel Skene
Susan Dunn
Jill MacLeod
Susan Nichols
William Buckingham Youngman
Jay Thompson
Angie Fleitz
Laura Smith
Angela Gunning
Tine De Ruysser
Bill Riker (Riker Glass)
Laura Power
James Lethbridge
Julie Chapman
Sarah Molloy
Lani McGregor
Chuck & Erica Kropp
Frank Winter
Christopher Higham
Lorna Campbell
Linda McNutt
Shelagh Swanson
Angela Hunt
Jean-Pierre 'el Rif
Ron & Morag Smith
Leni Singerman & Terry Post
Sebastian Araujo
Tristan Gooley
Christina Guercio
Mrs. Rebecca Wills
Gemma Truman
Silver Moon Beads
Tracy Glover
Norman Motion
Louise Olley
Ed Turnbull
Dawn Miller
June & Richard Morrison
Bill Taylor
Chris and Alexandra Pantos
Finella Devitt
Maggie Drohan,
Anna Vulpe
Jeremy Doar
Shan & Tom Brady
Sue Burns
Arun District Council
Chichester District Council
Graham Walmsley
Patty Neimann
Mark Kydd
Jeff Zimmer
Max Stewart
Annie Woodford
Maggie & Eric Miller
and all you generous other people that I am so grateful for!
and thanks to Ian!
From the 10th October 2011 to the 17th January 2012, Chichester Cathedral will be exhibiting the Glass Wings sculpture. Chichester Cathedral is open daily with free entry and all are welcome. Further information can be found on 01243 782595 or www.chichestercathedral.org.uk