iron lintel – the story continues

I spent several days fettling and chasing the iron lintel and cutting off bits that weren’t required. Eden (Senior Tech SSW) assisted with this process – giving advice and moving the piece around for me. He also finalised an ingenious scheme for affixing the piece at its final location.

The lintel just fitted into my van and with further ingenious thinking from Eden it was stowed in a manner that I would be able to get it out by myself (or at least with one other)

I took it over to Stoer and we unloaded it. Unfortunately the weather was changing so the noble lintel moving team called off moving it to the broch that day, but they got together later to carry it in. My heart-felt thanks to them.

We now await a decision on the final location so the lintel can be installed at the broch site where it belongs,

Clachtoll Broch residency

I went back to Assynt for a week in May; and the weather was kind, so lots of work was done.

With the invaluable help of Nigel Goldie, we got the Community Bronzes installed in the bedrock around the Clachtoll broch. A lot of lugging in and out of generators, drills, glue and the bronzes themselves was involved. I had agreed which rocks were outside the historic area, but on land where we had permission, and Nigel did the drilling and glueing.

I’m hoping that they will weather and patinate over the years, I started the patination process with sea water and beeswax resist. They are mainly on the Stoer approach, but there are a few on the Clachtoll side. So if you are on the site do try and find all forty four of them.

The main group of thirty-five include all the ones designed and carved in beeswax by the Clachtoll school pupils at a workshop in the Glen Canisp art studio. They also did pewter casting in sand, the same process as Iron Age casters would have used, and which I used for these bronzes (although in updated materials). Please refer to earlier posts for more on the bronzes.

Thirty five is the estimated size of the extended family group who lived in the broch at any one time. The design choices reflect the range of ages and interests of the people involved, a local community working together.

Can you find the bone comb? Maybe a plan of the broch? A panda or a Pod?

It’s a great collection of designs and styles and I hope it’ll give visitors to the broch pleasure, stimulate ideas and trigger narratives; celebrating the local community and the people who have been involved in the broch project.

Perhaps some people will think of the metalwork and how the broch residents will have traded for cast bronze products, even if they didn’t smelt and cast bronze themselves.

Iron Age bronze working

We had such fun at the final public event for the Clachtoll Broch project.

Uist Corrigan (who is now at Edinburgh College of Art) joined me and some local folk and volunteer archaeologists. (That’s Uist keeping an eye on the furnace)

We had the bellows from SSW and built the furnace using local clay, sand and horse dung.

We had some local charcoal courtesy of Chris (although most of it came from the Chinese wholesalers in Dundee). Heather Fulton took loads of photos, some of which I’m using here.

We started before dusk and did the final copper smelt of the project.

Just about everyone helped with the bellows, it’s not so easy, but it’s sociable, thanks all who joined in.

We cast the two community bronzes which were lost wax cast.

This is burning out the wax.

Pouring the bronze and, below checking out the crucible for the next pour.

One of the bronzes was a bear foot print, designed by Bill.

I had spent the previous week preparing the waxes, adding runners and risers and then  dipping them in a clay slurry mix to build up layers of mould which was then finished by enclosing in a cob clay with a pouring funnel.

We kept the furnace going (and the bellow workers) to pour the last bronzes – One closed oil sand 2-part mould, an open sand box with local sand and clay mix; and a closed 2-part mould (although we ran out of bronze in the end)

Most people went up to hear Gordon’s talk, but I’d promised Mandy Haggith that we’d try a copper alloy. So we switched to the hand blower to melt the copper, including from the local smelting, and added some tin grain to get a very local bronze alloy.

The open sand mould was Roz’s bird over waves design; and the closed one Stuart’s panda:-

The next morning I said goodbye to the Art Studio for 2018 and headed back to my studio to finish the final bronzes.

My thanks to everyone for making the Clachtoll broch art project such good fun.

Clachtoll Broch – rock and fallen rock

My first impressions of the broch were of the majesty of the stonework and the rock bed that it is built on; and of the disorder of stones that had been part of the broch which fire, sea and time had scattered.

The bedrock falls to the sea and some of the stones from the broch have fallen this way. The archaeologists say that the broch collapsed in on itself , because the slope of the bedrock made the construction unstable. The recent work on the broch has included structural support and repair to the lintels to re-stabilise the building without embellishment. The work also included moving tonnes of fallen rock from within the building. This was all done by hand as there is no vehicular access to the site.

The stone double wall of the broch that once towered above the surrounding landscape has been in ruins since the time of Christ.

This mini re-cap gives some of the reasoning behind my decision to create an iron piece that is cast from one of the lintels at the site. It is still not certain that I will be able to do this this season as the weather seems to have turned autumnal, but that is the plan. I’ll keep you posted.

Clachtoll Broch: Scottish Sculpture Workshop

It looks like we should be able to bring an iron pour to Assynt as part of creating my final piece and involving local people. It’s still a long way to go, but it looks like iron will come to the Iron Age broch. The access to the broch site is a big consideration, as is the weather – molten metal and rain do not mix so we will need careful plans (and shelter). I would not use the actual broch site or anywhere that would adversely impact the site and will probably do a lot of prep work at the Sculpture Workshop.

I had a really useful meeting at SSW today with George Beasley, iron artist, and Eden Jolly, Senior technician, to scope out what I could do practically during my Clachtoll Broch artist residency. We could, for example, borrow SSW’s cupolette furnace, pictured, to cast iron in Assynt.

Once I’ve had a chance to meet and talk some more with the archaeologists who are working on the broch finds, I’ll be back up in Assynt to carry on working on the design, meeting people and seeking out resources

Thanks to Ross of RoRo studios for the photos.

Clachtoll Broch Art Project – Proposal

This is an extract from my Clachtoll Broch Art project proposal, which was selected by a local panel (out of more than 40 applicants):-

“I would be making a sculpture or series of small metal pieces using traditional casting techniques and working on site as far as practicable. This would mean that the local community could join in throughout the process. The people who lived in the broch would have needed to work together and I think it important that the togetherness of this project to date is reflected in the final work”

This is the broch the day before the summer dig finished. (I know this as the lintel has not been put back in place). This is the main entrance with a triangular lintel stone.

The project application continues:-

“I work sustainably with materials from my local landscape, such as malachite scavenged from the edges of old copper mines. My work is inspired and informed by traditional processes, bringing us closer to the landscape and lives lived on the land.

I have also developed my practice so that I can work in the landscape. The ancient making processes that I am rediscovering allow me to work as a pre-industrial maker would.

My pieces are domestic in scale using non-precious metal. Their character arises from the process of making and from age, patina and wear: suggesting solitude and liberation from a material world – a simpler life.”

This is the inside of the broch that has been excavated. The lintel on one of the cell windows is broken and has had structural support added.

 

Clachtoll Broch post 1

I have just started work on the Clachtoll Broch Art Project.

I have come to Assynt for a few days now (still working on Stone to Bowl) to make contacts, experience the place and continue thinking about design and outputs.

This is the evening view from the broch over towards Assynt

Summer 2018 excavations ended today, so it was a good chance to meet people and set up meetings.

This is the view towards the broch from Stoer beach

Stoer beach

The broch was lived in by Iron Age people for a few centuries, but has been in disrepair for a long time. The dry stone engineering required to make a broch several metres high on sloping bedrock site proved very challenging. Much of last year was spent making it safe before excavating the main area and some side chambers.

http://clachtoll.aocarchaeology.com/