Fujiwara, Simon
A Spire
2015
Sculpture : jesmonite; aluminium; coal; Copper; rust
Commissioned for the Laidlaw Library, 2015Image credit University of Leeds
Details
Artist(s): Fujiwara, Simon (1982-)(Artist)
Title: A Spire
Date created: 2015
Accession number: LEEUA 2015.001
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/438513
Collection group(s): University Art Collection | Public art
Description
Cast jesmonite with coal, copper and rust particles on aluminium frames supported by a steel structural framework.
The British-Japanese artist Simon Fujiwara was born in London and grew up in Cornwall. He studied Architecture at the University of Cambridge from 2002-05 and Fine Art at the Städelschule Hochschule für Bildende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main from 2006-08. He is now based in Berlin. His first major British exhibition was at Tate St Ives in 2012.
Fujiwara adopts a quasi-anthropological approach in his practice and this work wasis his first public art commission. The commissioning committee, which included student and staff representation, sought to create a new outstanding feature at the very entrance of the University, in front of the new Laidlaw Library. Fujiwara’s work, 'A Spire', is a beacon and totem that evokes the industries on which the University, and indeed, the city, are largely built. 'A Spire' is conceived as a soaring visual timeline – a skyward archaeology that connects the past and the present. Tall and cylindrical in form, 'A Spire' is the third spire between two'church buildings on Woodhouse Lane, drawing attention to the physical qualities of the site and creating a visually arresting moment on the campus. From the pulverised coal integrated at the base of the spire symbolising the coal on which Leeds’ prosperity was built, to the branches and cables laid into the cast, the surface of intertwined
natural and technological elements symbolises the current digital era in which organic and man-made materials merge. 'A Spire' creates a unique new presence at the top of Woodhouse Lane, capturing an ever-changing vertical landscape and the passing of time.
Physical characteristics
Category: Sculpture
Technique: public sculpture; cast
Medium: jesmonite; aluminium; coal; Copper; rust
Support: steel framework
Object: width 1200mm height 9000mm
Measurement details: 1200 diameter at base
Accession details
Accession number: LEEUA 2015.001
Accession date: 2015
Credit: Commissioned for the Laidlaw Library, 2015
Source: Commission; Fujiwara, Simon
On our website
Online exhibition: Simon Fujiwara - A Spire
Simon Fujiwara (b. 1982): A Spire. One example of public art on the campus of the University of Leeds