A trio of brick sculptures has been installed outside Portslade Town Hall to mark a new civic space.
The “organic shapes” by artist Felicity Hammond were commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council to be put between the town hall and the newly built Victoria Road housing development.
They have been developed with architecture and ideas studio CAN.
A press release announcing the installation says: “Hammond and CAN have produced a cluster of three organic forms appearing as weathered sections of brickwork, washed up and castaway by the sea.
“The forms are made from cement mixed with an aggregate of waste bricks leftover from the construction of the new housing. Sited in the central civic space of the development, fragments of brick are revealed on the polished surface of the sculptures, mimicking the way that the tide erodes and smoothes industrial materials.
“The history of the site and its coastal location are embedded in the processes used to make the artwork, which references the local former brickfield and the polishing company that once occupied the adjacent town hall.
“The polished brick forms in place are a series of steel hoops, which at once blend into the aesthetic of municipal design yet also stand out, like a warning or a marker.
“The painted steel mimics the change in texture on the concrete forms, suggesting a rising tidal line; a hint at the challenges faced by coastal towns.
“Through this gesture, Forecast responds to the very nature of permanence in relation to public art, asking its audience not only to consider the material histories related to the site, but also its future form.”
Looks like a giant elephant had made a visit
Good grief.
Funniest story I’ve seen in ages – not for the people of Portslade though, having these things ‘dumped’ on them. I had to check it’s not April Fools Day. Cue all the jokes about Portslade being a toilet, which is of course not true, but this really doesn’t help.
It’s lucky the Council don’t have a budget deficit and are at liberty to spend money on ‘art installations’.
The Press release…
I’ve never heard such a pile of pretentious twaddle in my life!
I had to check it’s not April Fools Day. It’s not.
This is crap who ever thought this was a good way to spend council money’s must be insane especially when they are closing down library’s saying they can’t keep them open 😡😡 get rid of this rubbush, this is why my council tax goes up every year so it can be waisted on this crap
You can’t even see them they’re tucked around the back of the town hall
What an incredible waste of taxpayers’ money, and what an insult to local residents. These look like enormous lumps of dog excrement.
Anyone know how much it cost??
What a waste of money, what a eye sore nonsense. As other have sad how sad that money could of been spent on are homeless . They would been better off going to France and getting on a rubber boat and getting a hotel with full board.