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2005 Windscape
 
Site Specific sculptures at Salthouse Church
 
 

I became interested in the wind as a part of the landscape, in its ability to shape landscape despite its invisibility, and the way in which we can only ‘see’ the wind at third hand i.e. in what is moved by it.  Working at Cromer Parish Church in the previous year, I noticed strong winds which were not blowing anywhere else in the town; subsequently I learned that as wind whirls around a tall building it can build into vortices that in turn generate strong winds on the ground.  This led to an interest in the movement and patterns of wind around the tower of Salthouse Church (which at that time had no wind vane), and the way in which the height and narrowness of the tower affects wind speed and direction.  I wanted to make visible this invisible aspect of landscape and show its relationship with the surrounding landscape
   
   

Wind Rose 200 x 180 cm

Wind Rose - detail
   
   
I recorded the changes in wind direction around the tower over a 3 week period, and etched those changes onto a piece of plexiglass, which was leant up against the church tower.  I also took an adaptation by Hugh Lupton of an ancient riddle about the wind and printed the lines onto blue sails which were placed around the tower and which made visible the movements of the wind
   
   

Windscape and Wind Rose
 
 
 

Windscape - detail
   

All photos by Liz McGowan

 
 

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