Bottle Kiln Seat
The starting point for the bench was a scoping walk of the various parts of the Trent Valley Way in Stoke. A chance meeting with a lovely lady walking her dog who asked - “could we have a seat" please?” - helped us to think of this location as well as the option to make the artwork a seat.
After that it was sketching and scribbling and research and this is where the shape of the bottle kiln emerged.
Bottle kilns were typical of the industrial landscape of Stoke-on-Trent, where many are are preserved as listed buildings. They were mostly built in the later 18th and the 19th centuries, And their association with Stoke-on-Trent reflects the fact that the British ceramic industry was mainly based in that city. They are such beautiful objects too.
Early sketch concepts
The connection to the river Trent was also an important factor in the design and we looked at the ripples and riffles of the slowly moving river at this location. So the steel backs of the seats reflect these shapes. And interwoven into the ripples are the lovely illustrations done by the local school - Kingsland Church of England Academy.
The fabrication was done by CB ARTS and the installation by Kingston Agricultural Services. The client was Trent Rivers Trust.
