A public meeting to discuss the latest news regarding the ambitious Big Art project will be held at the Small World Centre in Cardigan on Tuesday, September 2nd from 8pm onwards. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Cardigan’s chosen artist, will be at the meeting along with curator Wiard Sterk and representatives from a number of stakeholders including the technical feasibility team. Anybody wishing to post a question for consideration in advance of the meeting is asked to do so by either e-mailing Rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com or posting comments here.
The meeting will be an opportunity to present findings from the feasibility and technical studies undertaken on the river using prototype buoys. Although the large amount of data has yet to be fully evaluated, initial findings seem to suggest the Strand, rather than Prince Charles Quay, may prove to be a more suitable and practical location for the final artwork. More tests remain to be done, but the final findings from the research and recommendations on the way ahead will be presented at the meeting and a public mandate sought.
Wiard Sterk, said, ‘The trials on the river Teifi, which are still ongoing, are gradually shedding light on a number of issues concerning the practicalities of situating an ambitious art installation on the Teifi. Once the processing of this data is complete we will need, with the consent of the people of Cardigan, to make some concrete decisions.’
‘If the long-term suitability of the Prince Charles Quay location needs to be looked at then we will need to bite the bullet and present alternatives. I hope as many people as possible can attend the meeting to allow a fully informed and open discussion on this exciting project.’
For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen, Cambrensis Communications on 029 20 257075.
4 users commented in " Big Art comes to Small World Centre "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI think this is a great chance for those in favour of the scheme to make their voices heard. I was at the last open meeting and almost died of shame at the rude, aggressive and small minded attitude which was displayed by some of the speakers in the anti camp.
Do we want Cardigan to be represented on national television by these people ? I think not, lets address the balance and speak out in support of a very interesting and engaging proposal.
Having been very sceptical about the original proposal for the site of this project I was encouraged to find that the practical views of local river users and observers had been given some serious thought. Many of the problems and concerns have been addressed.
The revised location solves some of the problems raised by the previous site, but offers new challenges in terms of pedestrians having to cross a busy road with poor visibility.
It also presents a new opportunity which I was not allowed to express at the televised public meeting, having been suppressed by the ‘Facilitator’. However I was able to make my view known to Raphael at the end of the meeting.
The obvious historical and cultural links to the Cardigan Castle, which is the perfect observation platform for the new site, were either missed or ignored whilst considering this location. Placing an observation point on the Castle ramparts with microphones and sound feedback from the ’sculpture’ as proposed for the Strand would provide:
Benefits in terms of reducing the numbers of people, particularly the disabled, having to cross the busy road to the proposed observation point on Cardigan’s Strand.
Clearer sound feedback. The observation point at the Strand will be noisy due to traffic on the busy road passing behind the observer, this would not be a problem with sound feed back to an observation point on the castle ramparts.
Encouragement to regeneration of the castle site making some practical use of the old ramparts which were established, at least partly, to give a view of the river and its crossing in its old defensive role.
Link Cardigan’s historical and cultural roots, which lie with the castle, to a brave new venture for the future.
I agree that the castle would form an excellent point from which to view the structure in the river. There is the point though that the Castle suffers very greatly from the noise of traffic running along the Strand. This seems to move upwards and get caught in the trees on the site. Last year during a confernce in the grounds it was difficult to hear the speakers, despite a sound system because of the traffic noise.
How would the sounds of the art be heard up on the ramparts? A feedback system would increase the complexity of the entire system (and costs)and need to be fully integrated with proposed developments in the Castle.
As I see it, if the workings of the ’sculpture’ are to be run via the internet with sounds being sent to and from it, there should be little problem in adding the sound functionality to a viewpoint in the castle. Will sounds actually be stored on the sculpture or will it be a means of presenting sounds actually stored in a server on the internet? How noisy is it at the proposed viewpoint on the strand anyway?
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