The ‘Seven Slate Towers‘ sculpture, which incorporates a fountain, was created by Daniel Harvey and Heather Ackroyd in 1995 and commissioned by Sir Robert and Lisa Sainsbury for the Secluded Garden in Kew Gardens.
The towers are constructed from hundreds of slates, each layer specifically cut, and placed to create a spiralling tower. The top of each tower is finished with a bronze bowl cast from copper sulphate crystal forms. Water is pumped up the towers filling the bowls slowly, and then trickles back down to the pool below.
Originally created without a surrounding fence but due to fears of potential danger the piece was fenced off against the artist's wishes.
The Public Monuments & Sculpture Association entry describes the sculpture as:
“A group of seven coiling/twisting towers of different heights made of angular slate pieces, culminating in circular rings at the top. Indentation in the middle of the top ring filled with slate shards. Set into a circular pond and surrounded by a low border of tightly packed diagonal rising slates creating a striated effect. Towers have the appearance of chimneys or termite mounds. It refers to the plant life of Kew Gardens particularly cacti, and to the DNA spiral. Twisting and layered character of the towers was originally inspired by cutting away the surface of a pine cone.”
Harvey & Ackroyd are a fascinating team of modern British artists working in sculpture, visual and performance art. They have collaborated since 1990 and have produced some striking original works including covering the outside walls of the National Theatre in grass. The Ackroyd & Harvey website shows examples and describes their work:
“Ecology, architecture, sculpture, and photography are some of the disciplines that intersect in the work of Ackroyd & Harvey, revealing an intrinsic bias towards process and event. Their artwork makes explicit connections with urban political ecologies by highlighting the temporal nature of processes of growth and decay in sites of architectural and ecological interest as well as contemporary art galleries and museums worldwide. Often working outside the gallery space and in diverse contexts, they are acclaimed for large-scale architectural interventions where they grow landmark buildings with seedling grass.”
Here is more information about these fascinating artists:
