Jo Chapman

 Gateway Sculptures A+B, Brighton & Hove 2023

Shortlisted Public Art Proposal (unrealised)

Commissioner: Moda, Hove Central

One of three invited shortlist artists to design a concept for the two gateway sculptures.

The concept was for two social sculptures that have a shared theme and compliment each other while also having a function as gateways for the new development. The sculptures draw together threads of narrative, through using cast, model railway components formed into flowing, lighthearted, rhythmic, colorful sculptures that invite engagement and interrupt the everyday.

They take the form of twisting, delicate, organic sculptures that weave together the industrial histories of the site with reference to the abstract rhythms of seawater, steam and the rolling movement of the downs.

The site was originally the sidings for Hove railway station. In researching the formations of rail tracks I was especially drawn to images of disrupted tracks after landslides and the wave like shapes they formed.

This led me to think about model railways, I was fascinated by the layout diagrams with the rhythm and linear quality that alluded to structures and a continuous flowing network, self perpetuating and circular. The sculptures were based on drawings of model to railway tracks, exploring the way they intersect, layer and create branching patterns.

I wanted humour to be a present and the sculptures are intended to be playful, a model rail track gone haywire. Bearing relation to Victorian sensibilities and their enthusiasm for the bizarre, leisure activities and their engineering inventiveness.

The use of cast metal, steel, industrial materials combined with current technologies, 3d scanning and printing make reference to this heritage of industry, engineering and invention.