PRESS
RELEASE
24th May 2007
Woodland water music
A giant steel horn in King's Wood, Challock which collects water and channels the drips to create music has scooped one of the country's most prestigious art awards.
'A Score for a Hole in the Ground' has won the Rouse Kent Public Art Award 2007 and was described by leading art expert Richard Cork as "magical, mysterious and slightly surreal".
The work consists of a steel horn - modelled on the trumpet of an old gramophone - rising seven metres above the ground amongst the beech trees deep in the wood, a seven metre deep chamber and a pond, eight metres in diameter.
The horn amplifies droplets of falling water in the concrete chamber beneath, producing a subtle bell-like sound. The weather changes the music - for example in a torrential downpour its reaches a crescendo while in the drought it is silent, save for the effects of the breeze brushing against the instruments.
The work was commissioned by Stour Valley Arts and created by Jem Finer. His proposal for the work won the PRS Foundation New Music Award in 2005 and he was invited by Stour Valley Arts to develop it for King's Wood.
The award was presented by the chairman of the judging panel, leading art critic and author Richard Cork, at a VIP dinner at the Kings Hill Golf Club on 23rd May. The £10,000 prize money will be divided between the commissioner and the artist and Stour Valley Arts will keep the Rouse chair for the next year - itself a work of art.
"The work has extraordinary presence," said Richard Cork. "You approach it through a beautiful wood and suddenly you see an extraordinary shape rising from the ground, looking like a giant gramophone horn.
"It is almost as if the wood has discovered its own voice and is playing its own music. It has a slightly surrealist feeling and is not what you expect to come across in an English wood, but it has wide appeal as everyone can grasp it at their own level."
The runner up for the award was 'The Erith Fish' in Erith - a sculpture of three intertwined fish rising up in a column and coated with brightly patterned glass mosaic created by Gary Drostle and commissioned by Bexley Council. They shared the second prize of £5,000.
Now in its 14th year, the Rouse Kent Public Art Award is given by Kings Hill developer Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd (formerly Rouse Kent), Kent County Council and Arts Council England, South East.
Commenting on this year's entries, Richard Cork said: "The entries were tremendously varied and it was interesting to see the way the artists approached the individual settings. It is really encouraging to see people being so adventurous in the creation of public art and businesses devoting time and resources to fostering the arts."
PICTURE CAPTION
Sandra Drew of Stour Valley Arts with (L-R) Nick Condon, Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd, Richard Cork, chair of the judging panel and Jem Finer, artist.
Pictures of A Score for a Hole in the Ground available from
alison@maxim-pr.co.uk
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Alison Hardy, Maxim PR & Marketing on 01892 513033 /
alison@maxim-pr.co.uk
