Landmark sculpture and

community resilience:

An Interdisciplinary Exploration

Caroline Hart (DECI)

Anne Hollows (H&W)

Hywel Jones (MERI)

Pat Morton (CSE)

Aimee Walshaw (CRESR)

What is landmark sculpture?

SCR's landmark sculpture?

Sheffield Icon, Steve Medhi, “Man of Steel”Tinsley Cooling Towers

M1, Meadowhall

Losing/gaining landmarks

• What impact does the loss of a landmark

have on a community, especially one in

decline? Bereft or free?

• What impact does the arrival of a new

landmark have? Important and invested in

or imposed upon?

• Does all this depend on how and why the

landmark comes into being?

Guardian

Multidisciplinary exploration of landmark

sculpture and human/physical resilience and

the linkages between them

re·sil·ience [ri-zil-yuhns, -zil-ee-uhns]

noun

1.

the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.

2.

ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.

When it works

Environment

Community

Economy

Heritage

Tourism

Physical

When it doesn't work

B of the Bang, Manchester, 2005

Spikes fell off after completion

Fatigue and construction methods

Dismantled in 2009 . £1.7m damages

Civic Heart, Chester-le-Street, 2007

6m x 23m, 6 tonnes, steel & brick

Damage & bricks fell off

2011 public consultation

93% in favour of demolition

Research questionsResearch into relationship between public art and resilience is

under researched.

We identified the following RQs after a review:

1. Can large public art have an impact on resilience (positive or

negative)?

2. What factors determine the impact on the physical and social

resilience?

– genesis, materials, design, management, aesthetic, ownership

3. Can lessons be learnt from physical resilience that help

describe and inform the understanding of social resilience?

4. How long does the effect last/need to last?

5. How important is legacy?

An interdisciplinary exploration

Inclusion: promoting gender

and cultural inclusion and

engagement with STEM

subjects in educational and

employment settings (Morton

and Hart)

Physical resilience of the

landmark sculpture itself, its

durability and longevity

(Jones)

Socio economic

regeneration of

communities in decline

(Walshaw)

Emotional

wellbeing of local

residents (Hollows)

Landmark sculpture

Research activities

• Knowledge review

• Primary qualitative data collection in South Wales (Guardian): – stakeholder interviews and vox pops in Six Bells incl. artist

Sebastien Boyesen, LA officers, Communities First reps and local residents

– Visit to Big Pit: tour and interviews with guide, tourism and educational officers

• and in SCR (Man of Steel):– Stakeholder interviews incl. artist Steve Medhi, local MP's

and councillors, LA officers, reps of local industry etc.

– Vox pops at Magna during exhibition of scale model

– Engagement of local schools.

• Genesis

– Local artists vision

– scaled up from a small sculpture

– 'SCR's Angel of the North'?

• Commissioning/design

– Artist led in partnership with local industry

– Some in kind public sector support

– Some consultation but has not resulted in modifications.

• Impact so far

– focus for educational activities and STEM

• Community response

• Longevity

Man of Steel (SCR)

Guardian (South Wales)

• South Wales Valleys

• Ex mining community

• 1960 mining disaster – 45 men lost

• Open 2010 by Rowan Williams(arms weren’t on due to engineering issues)

• Genesis: community memorial replaced earlier memorial

• Commissioning: led by regeneration agency with

community/families input

• Community response: positive & emotional

• Longevity? Structure/materials good, owned by LA but

needs maintenance, other benefits (link heritage and

tourism)

Next steps

• Complete fieldwork in SCR (vox pops

within host communities)

• Transcription of interview data

• Analysis

Will it work?

Environment

Community

Economy

Heritage

Tourism

Physical

Resilient

individuals and

communities?

Next steps

• Complete fieldwork in SCR (vox pops

within host communities)

• Transcription of interview data

• Analysis

• Paper and conference: impact of

development and execution of landmark

sculpture on human and physical

resilience

Future direction• Continue engagement with MoS and associated activities

• Monitor evolution of Guardian

• We have identified many more examples...