June 2010 "Divining Rods"

Temporary site-responsive work for VARC (Visual Arts in Rural Communities). Highgreen,Tarset, Northumberland (collaboration).

In a clearing, just to the side of the front lawn of Highgreen Manor, is a drift of tall wooden poles, like a small copse or thicket - lightly embracing the house and its immediate gardens, offering a sense of protection from prevailing winds and natural forces. At the same time, the eye is drawn outwards towards expansive views of surrounding landscape. 

What is the meaning of these rods? The curved meandering form of the work suggests a hidden flow of energy, an underground stream perhaps. The massed upright poles are like mighty conduits of some vast elemental force from beneath the ground. Or perhaps they are probes. One thinks of mining, and of the activity of dowsers in their search for minerals and water.

Divining Rods presents a threshold between dwelling and landscape and between earth and air. It is a place where building, land, people and place interact.