The Pilgrim Porch
NAME : Pilgrim Porch DATE : 2022 CLIENT : Chester Cathedral LOCATION : Chester Cathedral PARTNERS : CB Arts, Printed Film
Aim
The Pilgrim Porch sculpture forms part of a wider regeneration of the Cathedral, looking at inclusivity, and visibility - further embedding the piece within the significance of the place and people it is interacting with. Opening the west door creates a portal into the Cathedral and a renewed connection to the city square.
Concept
A 5m sculptural bronze porch with ceremonial glass doors for the west end of Chester Cathedral – unveiled in June 2022 as part of the Queen’s platinum Jubilee celebrations. The artwork encapsulated into the glass depicts a labyrinth and highlights over 300 meaningful stories surrounding objects within the individual churches in the Diocese curated within the frame.
The sculptural doorway continues to transform throughout the day, the changing light is constant and creates different effects. The artwork also allows the acknowledging of the changing seasons.
Making
The pattern making, textures, and construction of the impressive Bronze Porch. A new and unique patina was created for the porch, a vibrant blue - also featured on other new bronze interventions by Luke Hughes throughout the cathedral such as the new Altar table and the handles - ensuring a consistent visual language – which is important for the identity of the interventions in the Cathedral. The bronze was fabricated by our good friends at CB Arts.
The delicate, yet impressive installation of this huge structure within this historic building demonstrates the scale, and visual impact contrasting and complimenting with the stone structure. The glass sitting delicately into the frame to finish off the artwork and highlight the collaborative voice and significant process.
Glass
Engagement
https://broadbent.studio/pilgrim-porch
An ambitious framework of active engagement was established in order to engage with a broad spectrum of the community through storytelling. The stories came through photographed objects from over 300 churches, further representing how these connections and the act of pilgrimage and welcome is central to the fabric of the Cathedral.
Through this participation, the ambition of the piece was to resonate with the local and visiting community and to build on visibility within public square. It also allows viewers to engage with their imagination or engage with the screens to discover more detailed stories.
Within the glass, it was important to generate a design which would not impede the visibility within the new doorway, the importance of this light and visual clarity needed to be balanced with the artwork design. The final design allows the labyrinth and photos to have presence and clarity, and to generate a subtle intrigue.
The curation of the photographs took months of consideration. Investigating the crop created by the segment shapes within the labyrinth design – reflecting the mosaic stained glass designs using segments of broken glass from churches bombed in the war.
The visual here provides the desired effect of the Pilgrim Porch as a whole. The tones within the glass transform the contributed photographs to feel like a collective contribution to the artwork.
“With the porch complete, the venerable timber doors of the West front can be left open, so that the Cathedral appears open, allowing visitors views into the heart of the building. Internal door handles cast in bronze form part of the door frame. Shaped in the abstracted form of geese, these refer to St Werburgh, patron saint of Chester.
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