Forged in the Fire
is one of ten site-specific artworks commissioned for the new Carbon Neutral
Laboratory on Triumph Road at the University of Nottingham. The commissions
were proposed after the original building burnt down shortly before completion.
I was among a group of artists invited onto the burnt down
site, to sift through the wreckage for materials to use for artworks. The
take-up for this experience was high, so each group were given just 25 minutes
to photograph and to retrieve something from the devastation.
I collected 8 bags of mixed materials; finding nothing
identifiable other than melted metals, broken glass and scorched wood. I boiled
and cleaned everything and a narrative started to emerge as some of the
aluminium had taken on forms that reminded me of archaeological finds. I imagined
a scenario where these objects might be dug up at some future point.
The story was then developed through collaged photographs to
support my finds; evidence that they really were forged in the fire.