Eighteen Thousand Tides
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  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: | 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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