Object Details

Eighteen Thousand Tides

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Makers
General Information
Classification
Object Parts
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Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright for Photograph:

Creative Commons

Location

Street:Borough Lane
Town:Eastbourne
Parish:Eastbourne
Council:Eastbourne Borough Council
County:East Sussex
Postcode:BN21
Location on Google Map
Object setting:Public Park
Access is:Public
Location note:Opposite the Towner Art Gallery, inside Manor Gardens
In the AZ book:East Sussex
Page:154
Grid reference:B9
The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks.

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Makers

Name : David Nash
     Role:Sculptor
     Qualify:assisted by

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General Information

Commissioned by: The Towner Art Gallery and Museum. Eastbourne.
Construction period:October 1993 - August 1996
Installation date:08/1996
Work is:Extant
Owner custodian:Eastbourne Borough Council
Object listing:Not listed
Description:A circle of rough hewn upright recycled groynes of varying heights and widths set into a base of shingle that has a retaining wall also cut from recycled groynes.
Inscription:Plastic plaque attached to the base:

Eighteen Thousand Tides 1996
Recycled aok groynes from Eastbourne seafront
DAVID NASH
A sculpture commission by the Towner Art Gallery

Purchased through the Collection Scheme in partnership with the
Contemporary Art Society and funded by the Arts Council of England,
Contemporary Art Society, Eastbourne Borough Council, friends of the
Towner and the Towner Contemporary Art Fund Committee
Assistance has also been received from Posford Duvivier, J T Mackley
& Co. Ltd. And Serco Ltd.

More information about the sculpture and David Nash is available at the
Towner Art Gallery & Local Museum, an Eastbourne Borough Council service.

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Classification

Categories:Sculptural, Free Standing, Composite, Abstract
Object type1:Sculpture
Subject type1:Non-figurative

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Object Parts

Part 1:Shortest upright
     Material:Oak (recycled beach groyne)
     Height (cm):244
Part 2:Circular base
     Material:Shingle with oak retaining wall
     Width (cm):804
     Depth (cm):804
Part 3:Tallest upright
     Material:Oak (recycled beach groyne)
     Height (cm):404

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Object Condition

Overall condition:Good
Risk assessment:No known risk
Date of on-site inspection:14/04/2007

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History

History:'David Nash was invited to the Towner Art Gallery in October 1993 with a view to developing a proposal for a new outdoor sculpture near the Gallery in Manor Gardens. Whilst in Eastbourne he was given a tour to see what wood might be available. As the only durable wood for exterior sculpture is oak, he was shown oak trees that were damaged and due to be cut down, and the groynes at Eastbourne seafront which were to be replaced. He responded strongly to the weathered groynes which were to be discarded, as the wood is too hard and full of shingle to be recycled and too dangerous for fire wood because the shingle explodes.
Following his visit to Eastbourne, David Nash sent a proposal to site a sculpture in Manor Gardens. ''Working from the proportions of these (seafront) oak buttresses, I envisaged a group standing vertically in a circle, creating a 'place', unusual and intriguing as an image and as a place to enter, majestic and quiet and contemplative.'' …It is the first time that Nash has worked with sea weathered timber.'
Nash worked with the Brighton sculptor, Walter Bailey in preparing the timber for the sculpture and the retaining wall. Bailey has assisted Nash over several years. The upright groynes have been placed in concrete 'pipes'. 1.5m below ground level, to hold them in place underneath the shingle.
Nash says, ''The timbers in this sculpture have been formed by the relentless breathing of tides, the sea pressing against Eastbourne over twenty-five years, eighteen thousand breaths. The living oak, before being a buttress, wove the elements of mineral, water, air and light to form its physical body; when no longer a tree the wood retains an echo of those elemental forces and through water erosion their image is magnified, each buttress becoming unique. I have chosen ten images to place together working with proportion and number framed by a low wall to create a space that is uniquely of Eastbourne and is aesthetically and socially approachable on many levels, from the mysteries of 'number' - single, pair, trilogy, quartet, - to using the wall as a seat''.
Groynes on the seafront are replaced every 25 years.
('Eighteen Thousand Tides: A Sculpture by David Nash'. (pamphlet))
Hard archive file:Yes

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References


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Photographs





Date: 14/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Date: 14/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Date: 14/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Date: 14/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons

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