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City Centre 1 ( The Western Scenic Art Trail )
The Inner City of Milton Keynes (Part One Western section) Si monumentum requiris circumspice. ( If you seek a monument, look about you ) To paraphrase the famous quote " All roads lead to Rome "....In Milton Keynes' case all Redways lead to the City Central...Our founding fathers specifically designed 360 degree access by creating...
The Inner City of Milton Keynes (Part One Western section)
Si monumentum requiris circumspice. ( If you seek a monument, look about you )To paraphrase the famous quote " All roads lead to Rome "....In Milton Keynes' case all Redways lead to the City Central...Our founding fathers specifically designed 360 degree access by creating designated cycle routes. These utilise underpasses and overpasses to avoid main thoroughfares. This facilitates safe passage to, from and in the very heart of this great "city". I say "city" but in reality, Milton Keynes is officially a town, but nevertheless, to its proud residents, it is regarded as a city.
To follow my Redway journey, a big help would be a Milton Keynes Redway Guide, which is available in a handy pocket size from the Council Offices, The Parks Trust and many local cycle shops and hotels, or you can download your map from the web. As a word of caution, when navigating through the city centre, always proceed alongside buildings. Sometimes following a pavement in a parking area leads to dead ends or long drops which don't do much good to most mobility scooters.
On gaining ingress to the inner sanctum,as it were, this ramble is basically an art trail broken up into West,Central and Eastern sections.
Milton Keynes Western Section
The Western Section covers from the Milton Keynes Central Railway Station up to Saxon Gate (V7)A good starting point is the sculpture "O Wert Thou in the Cold Blast" by Ronald Rae, which is situated in the open square in front of the railway station. This square is quite large and bleak so the wind whistles around it. In summer it is great but, in winter Brrrrrr...
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| O Wert Thou in the Cold Blast |
Carved in Creetown granite, (7x8x4ft 1200 tons) this sculpture celebrates one of Burns' last poems written for Jessy Lewars, who nursed him during his final illness. The sculpture shows a couple comforting each other in times of trouble. In Milton Keynes, We, the local people, call it "the cuddling couple." (See Historical Notes and Items of Interest for Burns's poem of the same name.)
Now proceed up Midsummer Boulevard on the right hand side pavement, up to and over Upper 2nd Street. Turn right and go a short distance along the pavement which becomes a pathway leading into the delightful Grafton Park.The pathway turns left and follows the waterway wending its way through grassed enclaves bedecked with benches and surrounded by shrubbery. This pathway heads in an easterly direction and ends at a T junction. Turn left and after few yards on the left-hand side, a tall sculpture called "Embrace" stands alone in its own grassy enclave.
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| Embrace |
In 1966. John Wragg's "Embrace" was originally commissioned for Sainsbury's supermarket in the King's Road, London. However, after it had been vandalised a number of times, it was 'rescued' and re-sited in the green of Grafton Park. The sculpture is constructed of two simple arcs, each subtly different; one slender, the other more stocky. These anthropomorphic forms just touch, creating a delicate and charged connection between the two.
Backtrack South along the path which now goes through a covered passageway and then cross over Avebury Boulevard. Turn left and follow the pavement, stopping at the beginning of a fairly large triangular paved area. Across the road (Witan Gate) is Sainsbury Supermarket with its "Glass Facade". There are eleven ever decreasing panels in Autumn shades.
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| Glass Facade |
This is the work of Mel Howse and was completed in March 2009. The use of autumn shading blends in with the Corporate colours of Sainsbury, although I think that this is coincidental (See Historical Notes and Items of Interest).
Continue by crossing Witan Gate and then across to the north side of Avebury Boulevard. Turn right and then take the first passageway on your left between Brasserie Blanc and Aqua which is known as Holkham walk. This leads to the piazza in the Hub square. On reaching the corner of the open square right next to Ziggy,there stands a highly polished stainless steel column. Look over to the diagonal side and outside Encore, you will spot another identical column. These are known as "Lightflow" and are the brainchild of Peter Freeman.
Wow!!!!How amazing....Now head in the direction of the passageway between Encore and Subway, known as Rillaton Walk, which comes out on the south side of Midsummer Boulevard. Turn right and navigate up towards Saxon Street on the pavement running along Cresswell Lane. Keep a lookout for Midsummer Arcade, specifically the Bannatyne Health Club entrance.Turn into this and go straight through until you overlook the beautiful gardens on the floor below.
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| Bannatyne Garden |
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| Bannatyne Garden |
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| Winter Garden Panels |
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| Winter Garden Panels |
Backtrack to Cresswell Lane and head up towards the Shopping Centre. Just before Saxon Street and after the last commercial building, a large open area called Exchange Square springs into view. Here we find the prominent sculpture known as "The Space Between".
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| The Space Between |
"The Space Between",by Ellis O'Connell is in bronze and fibre optics and was commissioned in 1992 by Milton Keynes Development Corporation, (See Historical Notes and Items of Interest)
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On the same side of Saxon Street, take the underpass and continue in a Northerly direction and the modern structure of the "The Church of Christ the Cornerstone" emerges. It's initial feature is the dome cross which can be seen from any angle.
Moving on to the next set of sculptures could be a bit of trial. Let's start with the easy way and that is to hug the paving of the Church and go around to the back ending up at the front of the Guild Hall. The plan is to cross the road to the opposite side to gain access to the park situated there. Sounds simple but if there are cars parked close together it becomes a mission. That being the case, it is best to turn left and meander along for a space to get through or even go to the end of the road returning on the opposite pavement. Once this is accomplished, on entering the garden sculpture 3B series No. 2 can be seen. The pathway is very bumpy, so go slowly for your own comfort. On top of this, access to this sculpture for a closer look, can only be gained by turning at the first right turn, off the pathway.
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3B series No 2: Bernard Schottlander. |
Now to get to the other sculptures by the same artist, back-track to the entrance path and turn right down the entrance pathway. Again another bumpy journey down the slope and another turn to the right. Travel along and just before the end, turn left and this will give access to get close up to the other two sculptures 2MS series No 4. and 3B Series No 6.
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2MS series No 4: Bernard Schottlander. |
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3B Series No 6: Bernard Schottlander. |
These large brightly coloured abstract sculptures are based on simple geometric forms. Their clean lines echo cut across the verticals and horizontals of the surrounding buildings, and their strong colours contrast with the monochrome architecture. .Ironically, although Bernard Schottlander is a German, his surname literally translates into Scotsman (See Historical Notes and Items of Interest).
Once again, backtracking is the only way out. Go back to the second path that you turned right on. Now turn left then immediately right up the slope on another bumpy path to end of the park. Cross the road and continue along the pavement to Silbury Boulevard south side. Proceed up to Saxon road underpass and turn left crossing under Silbury Boulevard. On emerging turn left and make your way a few yards down the pavement and before Norfolk House, the sculpture "Octo" is sited.
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| Octo |
"Octo" by Wendy Taylor in 1980 encompasses stainless steel and water. "Octo's" twisting ribbon of stainless steel makes a figure of eight. The sculpture is based on a Mobius strip, a mathematical term describing a continuous surface created by twisting a long rectangular strip through 180 degrees and joining the ends. This form does not have an inside or an outside.
There are two other interesting art structures which have been placed by the Landscapers/Developers and consequently do not have a name. Although they are not classified by the Milton Keynes Arts Department, you may like to view them when you are in the area, The first one is on Midsummer Boulevard between Chiquita and Wetherspoons and it is a petal-like sculpture. (Pictured below)
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| petal |
The second one is behind Sainsbury's where there is a pedestrian access arcade and therein stands a large unusual fountain, from which water flows from the top of a metallic sphere. This sits on gravel atop a wooden pedestal. (Pictured below) It was made in Derbyshire and commissioned in 2007. The shine on the sphere dramatically captures and reflects its surrounds.
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| Sphere Fountain |
This concludes the Western journey and now we move on to explore the Central Section
Historical Notes and Items of Interest : Western Section
It is not always the artefact that impresses but the story allied and/or alluded to it.Burns Poem : "O Wert Thou in the Cold Blast"
O wert thou in the cauld blast,
On yonder lea, on yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee, I'd shelter thee;
Or did misfortune's bitter storms,
Around thee blaw, around thee blaw,
They bield should be my bosom,
To share it a', to share it a'.
Robert Burns
A plaque of the poem in braille accompanies the work. Purchased following a major exhibition of Rae's work in the city from 1995-1999.
"Sainsbury Glass Facade"
Mel Howse's work in glass has sought to embrace a wide audience. Her vitreous art installations ranging from schools and places of worship, to hospitals, livery companies and a Sainsbury's superstore, have explored all kinds of briefs in an adventurous and progressive way. Whether allied to new building design or ancient architecture, she has crossed the boundaries of both historical glazing techniques and emerging glass technology – often teaming the two."Lightflow"
Peter Freeman lives in West Cornwall on the Penwith Penninsula surrounded by water. He is continually inspired by the beautiful shifting colours that are created as sunlight is reflected between the sky and the sea.For "lightflow", he wanted to express this sensory emotion of light and water using new digital LED lights, computer controls and SMS text messaging. This is the first time he has used a digital LED pixel system with SMS messaging. This has allowed him amazing control to make some really beautiful animations. The sculptures face each other diagonally across the square. In default, the light colours mirror each other, but he has also programmed the lights so that for some of the text message animations, the lights on each column are doing different things, creating an interesting dialogue of light between the sculptures across the square. This is the first time he has used a digital LED pixel system with SMS messaging.
The Hub Milton Keynes was officially opened by HRH the Queen and Peter Freeman had the honour of demonstrating how the sculptures worked.
For further info go to http://www.peterfreeman.co.uk/thehub.htm
The Winter Garden Panels
Commissioned by Livingwell Ltd to celebrate the opening, by the Duchess of York, of the Milton Keynes Winter Gardens in 1989. Christine Tacq, printmaker,was invited to design a commemorative plaque for this event. More used to small etching plates, she called Jeremy Turner in to help when told how big they wanted it to be, and that it was to be wrapped around four walls of a pillar. With the help of Mark Adams, cabinet maker, they had just less than six weeks from Christmas 1988 to 30th January, to design the panels, do all the drawing, the carving, painting and the installing. We are told that they all went home at about 4 am to get some sleep before the official opening at 11.00am on the day.The Duchess, possibly expecting something small, engraved and in brass, looked totally awe struck when she let the concealing curtain fall, and stared up at the eight foot high carved wood panels.
"The Space Between"
Eilis O' Connell was born in Derry, N. Ireland in 1953. She studied at the Crawford School of Art, Cork. (1970 - 74), Massachusetts College of Art, Boston ( 1974-1975) and Crawford School of Art (1975-77) where she received the only award for Distinction in Sculpture that year.For further info go to eilisoconnell.com
"The Church of Christ the Cornerstone"
The Church of Christ of the Cornerstone is Britain's first purpose-built ecumenical city church. There are covenants which bring together the Church of England, the Baptist Union, the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the United Reformed Church, in a partnership which was seen as an important step forward for the Ecumenical movement in the UK. The church is 101 feet high while the cross rises a further 18 feet, making it the highest point in Milton Keynes. The Dome is 66 feet in diameter and nearly 40 foot high. It is half the size of the famous dome of St Paul's Cathedral in London. The building sits on a raised plinth, the dome is finished in lead, the floors are oak and it has marbled columns. It has the unusual feature of a cascade of water over a granite wall in the baptistry. Untraditionally the altar faces south instead of east. The church has fine acoustics and is a beautiful setting to hear live music. Principally, it is a place of worship but it is also a centre for concerts, recitals, exhibitions and drama in Milton Keynes.City Church Cross
The City Church Cross is the work of Alan Evans born in Stroud in Gloucestershire. Made of steel and erected in 1992, this simple cross can be viewed from 360º and consists of 8 blades wrapped together. The artist reflects the ecumenical nature of the church – ‘the coming together of different denominations, the binding together of the elements whilst still retaining their individual identity.Dome Stained Glass
The Dome Stained Glass by Alexander Beleschenko, who won a competition to design and manufacture a series of architectural glass panels for this new ecumenical church in Milton Keynes. His abstract panels encircle the dome of the building incorporating focal images of a cross and the burning bush. Beleschenko says the intention of his work is 'to uplift the spirit, to create a sense of inspiration and mystery'. Within the work is 'a series of visual clues' to references within the scriptures... a major symbol is water and the ceremony associated with it.' The glass was worked in an innovative way, using a combination of techniques to modify the glass surface, making it responsive to the ever-changing lighting conditions. installed 1992.Altar Ensemble
The Altar table and the Pulpit on the dais are made from polished "rosa porrino" granite. The stone was quarried in north west Spain, cut and shaped in Italy and finished and polished by specialist masons in Torquay, England. Amazingly the altar table and pulpit are capable of being moved with one hand on the dais by use of compressed air, using the hovercraft principle. There are many other Aspects and Artefacts, too numerous to mention here, but are explained and illustrated in a well constructed and comprehensive booklet obtainable from the church.Bernard Schottlander. (1924–1999)
"Sculpture is the art of silence, of objects that must speak for themselves"Bernard Schottlander was born in Mainz, Germany in 1924 and came as a Jewish refugee to Leeds in 1939. During the war he worked in a factory as a welder, before taking a course in Sculpture at Leeds College of Art and subsequently with the help of a bursary at the Anglo-French art centre in St John’s Wood. He studied sculpture for a year in London, and his training as a welder influenced his work heavily. Bernard Schottlander described himself as a designer for interiors and a sculptor for exteriors.
In 1963 he decided to concentrate solely on sculpture and from 1965 he taught metalwork at St Martins School.