THE SCULPTURES - In and around Slaithwaite

In the centre of Slaithwaite and beside Lock 23 at Old Bank is Fabric by Jayne Lloyd, an artist who was born in the Colne Valley but now lives and works in London. This was the first River Colne Sculpture Trail commission.



In autumn 2006 Jayne began to investigate how the mills have been transformed from busy places of work, into abandoned markers of the industrial age and finally into cosmopolitan apartments. Stories and drawings from the community workshops are interwoven with dressmaking patterns and digital prints of the mills. The sculptures, fabricated from laminated glass panels, are as much about the future as the past, they allude to the uncertain future of the mills, how will their pattern of use change?

Unfortunately this sculpture had to be removed in autumn 2009, it had been damaged beyond repair.

Acoustic Mirrors
On the Rotcher picnic site in Slaithwaite is a very different kind of sculpture by Matthew Sansom, his Acoustic Mirrors.



There are two aluminium parabolic dishes: one dish eavesdrops on walkers as they approach the picnic site the other listens out across the valley towards Marsden. The sounds within the valley are focused and amplified giving the listener a new way to experience the Colne Valley. To listen to the sounds of the valley the listener needs to lean into the dish with their ear just below the centre point.



There is also a River Colne Soundwalk which Matthew Sansom created as part of this commission. It is available as a download from this website or from Slaithwaite Library on pre-loaded mp3 players. It combines local children’s sonic explorations of the area, sound archive descriptions and location recordings made along the walk.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THIS HERE:

http://www.matthewsansom.info/colnevalley.htm


On Carr Lane, past the shops you will see the Flagpole sculpture by Cate Clark opposite the bank. This was commissioned by Kirklees Council in 2003.