14 Mar 2013
Today we raised the Flower Helix into place in the Tulip Stairs. This extraordinary spiral staircase leads your eye towards a circular skylight. The spiral apparently gets smaller as it twists upwards, with its metal bannister of fleur-de-lys motif and waved lines of metalwork. As with the Great Hall, the impression is of pure form and clear geometry. I did not want to interrupt this view, simply to animate the scale of the vertical and spiralled shape.
From top to bottom the height measures approximately 12 metres, and makes you slightly giddy as you look down.
I have unified the component parts, the small flower heads which have been made for me. They are all needle lace or crochet, some delicate and complex, others expressive and bold. Each one is different and put together they form a mass of flowers reminiscent of the ‘Queen Anne’s lace’ or cow parsley.
It has taken me the last three weeks to collect these beautiful contributions together, to attach them to wire and make them into a composite form, which could then be connected on site. I was amazed by the overwhelming response to my call out, having to constantly buy more materials and send off more parcels to the many people who offered to make these little circular motifs. The success of the piece rests on the abundance and the mix of these forms. You cannot help but stop and look at each one.
The Manchester School of Art girls worked out a system of connecting all parts and last night we laid out the various ‘circles’, each of which had four wire flower heads with approximately 20 to 30 flowers on each.
We had a total of around 24 circles, some with my little red or blue on white flowers. We also attached lines of linen thread which could hang vertically from each circle. Richard had made a cross bar to sit at the top bannister. We attached a pulley and started to gently lift the whole structure with a cord. This took all morning, since at each stage we needed to untangle the threads and wire stalks whilst also attaching new ones. There were 6 of us working on this from the floor, with Richard and Lisa on the stairs and Melanie coordinating and supervising. The whole piece needed adjusting and securing constantly.
But the finished work looks spectacular and is made even more so through these multiple contributions, a true collaborative work of participation and public engagement.
It is completely inspiring in terms of the generosity others have contributed to the project. I hope that I have been sensitive to this extraordinary place. I have met many of the Queen’s House volunteers, including Maurice, who have committed their time and knowledge to the House.
So all the girls went home to Manchester, Amy and Melanie and I scattered the flowers around the flower bed, and now I am home. Thank you everyone, thank you all at the National Maritime Museum, especially the staff and the volunteers. Thank you for having me for the last few days and looking after me with such care and interest.”
- Alice Kettle
The Garden of England is now open until 18 August, in the Tulip Stairs and North-West Parlour in the Queen’s House