Soul Serpent

Soul Serpent was submitted to the Arts Council in 2006. Shortlisted in 2006 and still in my plan!

soulserp
A proposal for Art Plus: Soul Serpent by Serpentina, May 2006
On a site in Clipper Close, Medway ME2 4QP

Issues that the project aspires to address:
1. To raise awareness about climate change and possibilities for use of renewable energy.
2. The artist’s role in the built environment & the positive contribution that artists can make in industry.
3. The sculpture to be seen from across the river Medway, involving and educating the local
community in its concept and design and thereby dealing with objections (if any) at an early stage.
4. Use the garden element as a means of getting the public actively involved and encouragement to visit it.
5. Improvements to public access to this area; Medway City Estate has very poor public transport.

The idea behind the proposed project:
I picture a serpent that rises with the tide; as water seeps into the Medway estuary it fills the snake with life. Energy rises through its body, tapping into tidal, wind and solar energy, and breathes ancient spirit into the land. From across the river bank as you go to and from school and work, this colourful changing creature sparks movement and colour from an industrial site, creating interest and beauty. At this early stage, the form is merely an idea; how it will be created is part of this development phase. Current technology shows possible use of visual rainbow effects created using wind turbines; wind, solar and tidal power will be researched.
Skipaway Ltd, a recycling company in Kent, has an area of reclaimed land and would like to commission a piece of artwork to showcase sustainable living and business to the community at large. Wind on the estate is a fact of life and siting the sculpture on the river bank will also make tidal power accessible and solar power or photo-voltaic panels, which could be investigated as part of the Development Phase. The company also produces an aggregate, which will be used at the base of the sculpture as part of the garden feature.
As an artist, I would like to highlight the use of wind, solar and tidal power in sites everywhere. On an industrial site such as this, DTI funding may be available as energy will feed back into the national grid, supplying some of the factory and office’s energy needs. The sculpture will be colourful and eye catching, and due to its height, it will be visible by bus and train travellers, by school children and passengers on bus routes, by drivers going to work on both sides of the Medway river as well as to the general public on visits to the site.
It is situated across the river from the Chatham Maritime Museum, providing another riverside attraction to visitors in Medway. It could also be used as a pattern for future development on the estate or in Medway to encourage local industry, and possibly domestic users, to adapt property to use available energy sources.

I have never even dreamed about something this big before. Previously, my work included painting, printmaking and some sculpture including ‘Phoenix Woman’, a sculpture made entirely from waste as part of the Full Circle project. I set up Full Circle in February 2005 and received Arts Council funding for the project in 2005. Using a whole High Street as exhibition space was quite an adventure and as part of this project, I also designed a Christmas Tree made for the Sunlight Community Centre and organised a team of volunteers to help to decorate it, once the structure was in place. This idea has come about through contacts made for Full Circle. I have extensive business management experience (see CV enclosed) in this country and abroad and I believe this will enable me to get this project underway and to get publicity locally.
Partners in this project, if successful:
Skipaway Ltd:
A recycling company based on the Medway City Estate in Kent. They are keen to continue their support of the arts, after collaboration with Full Circle in 2005. Mark Orsbourn, the Managing Director, was a part of Medway’s Waste Forum and had contacts in the planning department. He would like recycling as a way of life and sustainable living. He believed that this project, through its position on the river bank and accessiblity to the public, would raise the profile of his company and his personal beliefs.
Medway Council:
Initial discussions have been held with Paivi Seppala (then Arts Development Officer) and Sarah Dagwell from the Waste Minimisation Department. Several local councillors were interested in the project and its ability to provide a flagship for industry leading the way, which can be repeated in other sites.
Groundwork Medway Swale:
An organisation, which organised sustainable local projects. Frances Fielding, Operations Director, was keen to collaborate as a partner, particularly on the landscaping of the garden part of the base.
Medway Friends of the Earth:
The group supported Full Circle in 2005 financially and to organise local events. They are keen to see
renewable and sustainable energy provision as a fact of life.
Sunlight Development Trust:
Through contacts made for Full Circle, they are keen to work with the community to raise awareness about the energy issues the project will address. They believe working with artists improves its attractiveness to the local community.

I picture a serpent that rises with the tide; as water seeps into the Medway estuary it fills the snake with life. Energy rises through its body, tapping into tidal, wind and solar energy, and breathes ancient spirit into the land. From across the river bank as you go to and from school and work, this colourful changing creature sparks movement and colour from an industrial site, creating interest and beauty. At this early stage, the form is merely an idea; how it will be created is the development phase. Current technology shows possible use of visual rainbow effects created using wind turbines (see Appendix 4); solar and tidal power will be researched.
Skipaway Ltd, a recycling company in Kent, has an area of reclaimed land and would like to commission a piece of artwork to showcase sustainable living and business to the community at large. Wind on the estate is a fact of life and siting the sculpture on the river bank will also make tidal power accessible and solar power or photo-voltaic panels, which could be investigated as part of the Development Phase. The company also produces an aggregate, which will be used at the base of the sculpture as part of the garden feature.
As an artist, I would like to highlight the use of wind, solar and tidal power in sites everywhere. On an industrial site such as this, DTI funding is available as energy will feed back into the national grid, supplying some of the factory and office’s energy needs. The sculpture will be colourful and eye catching, and due to its height, it will be visible by bus and train travellers, by school children and passengers on bus routes, by drivers going to work on both sides of the Medway river as well as to the general public on visits to the site.
It is situated across the river from the Chatham Maritime Museum, providing another riverside attraction to visitors in Medway. It could also be used as a pattern for future development on the estate or in Medway to encourage local industry, and possibly domestic users, to adapt property to use available energy sources.

What I hoped to achieve through my idea :
1. To produce beauty in a site that is industrial and inaccessible at present and also to ensure that the
general public can view the work in day-to-day activities.
2. To create a prototype sculpture for energy efficiency that can be used in other sites in Medway.
3. To build partnerships to create new sites and commissioners for art in the public realm in Medway.

My own belief is that ours is a wasteful society, which needs to examine our use of energy and materials. This project will raise awareness about these issues, providing the community with more information about wind, tidal and solar power generators and also improve the industrial image of the Skipaway site. I would hope that if successful, the project will encourage industry and the council to engage artists in helping to create beauty in industrial sites, while simultaneously improving our environmental credentials in Medway.
On a more personal level, this is a huge project for me and it will stretch me to my limits, creatively to design it and also to develop my organisational and networking skills with industry and the local community. Having managed the Full Circle project in 2005 which encouraged society to look at its waste materials, I believe that raising funding for this project should be easier with my experience.
The major development for me as an artist will be working with industry leaders in the field of renewable and sustainable energy supply to produce a work that allows me to use my art as a way to address climate change and use of natural energy sources. I would be delighted if industry (and the council itself) in Medway began to see their sites as possible sources for collaboration with energy consultants and the kudos that this will bring both the council and companies in the longterm.
The serpent form is obviously my own personal manifestation for a creature drawn from nature. Soul Serpent for me, embodies the primeval emergence of life forms from water, the subsequent survival on land and reaching for the skies in the use of wind. My own fascination with snakes is rooted in being born in a country where there are none and historical legend has it that they were chased into the sea by Saint Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland. My research shows that the snake is a very old visual symbol, used frequently in Irish manuscripts, which experts believe may actually be a symbol for the indigenous Celtic culture itself. There are many remains of Celtic culture in Kent, the local tribe called ‘Conti’ and I will research this in more details in the development phase.
While my final sculpture may not actually take this serpentine form, the form will inevitably emerge from the visual research undertaken into local historical images eg the town crest for Gillingham, which uses images of a boat on water drawing on Medway’s nautical past, a harp, flowers and a tower.