Stone totem – connectivity
All the stones in this totem are the shape they were when extracted from the ground (with the exception of the Portland which was an offcut). This is so the stones are closest to their origins, the earth.
The stones celebrate the quarries around the South West where the Stone Lane Gardens Artists Call extends.
To each stone I have assigned a meaning through the carving of a symbol.
I begin at ground level and work upwards describing connectivity in different areas of study. It was a privilege to meet all the people involved in this process and hear some of the histories behind the quarries.
1. Purbeck Limestone (Dorset)
Roots of trees - nature
I have been reading a book called 'Wilding' about how collectives of tree species can communicate and form cooperative alliances and relationships which some are calling the ‘wood-wide web’. The tree roots work together with the mycelium network to transmit nutrients literally across the earth.
Since the war, these soil networks have been destroyed due to pesticides and fertilizers.
2. Caradon Granite (Cornwall)
The Concentric Circles represent the philosophy of Oikeiosis by Hierocles - Community
‘The early Stoic philosopher Hierocles depicted the idea of oikeiosis through his concentric circles of identity: the innermost circle represented the individual; the surrounding circles stood for immediate family, extended family, local group, citizens, countrymen and humanity, in this order. The objective of oikeiosis was to draw in people from the outer circles into the inner ones, based on the assumption that all human beings belong to one single and universal community with a shared morality at the core. As such, oikeiosis became the basis of cosmopolitan ethics’.
Source: Springer link by Peride K.Blind
3. Caradon Granite (Cornwall)
Counties of the South West - Geography
The pattern on this stone represents the 7 counties of the Southwest coming together for the Stone Lane exhibition: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The bored holes are gilded with metals representing the natural resources such as Tin, Gold and Iron other mined minerals of the South West.
4. Caradon Granite (Cornwall)
Triskelion – History and faith
The name Triskelion originates from the from the Greek word ‘Triskele’ which means three legged. The symbol has three curves emanating from the centre point. It is used to represent the importance of three (for example, earth, fire and water). It was later adopted by Christianity to signify the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This triple helix is one of the most ancient and famous ornaments on the earth which represents connectivity.
5. Slate (Cornish)
Highly polished to release its colour
6. Lamprophyre (Copplestone Quarry, Devon)
Greek from Lampros (bright) Phyre (from prophry – crystal)
This quarry was dormant until Andy Grey purchased it. I hope to do a full 3D carving to see how the stone responds. These stones haven't been carved for around 100 years.
String Theory and Atoms - Physics
The String Theory idea is that at the subatomic level we are all linked through small particles. String theory proposes that reality, everything that is, is interconnected with infinitesimal vibrating strings possibly made up from electrons or quarks. These strings fold, twist and vibrate effecting every dimension from the smallest effect to something as large as gravity. We are literally interconnected.
7. Granite (Cornwall)
Imbolc - science and faith
This symbol represents the ‘The Return of the Light' or more correctly the end of darkness. Traditionally, on this holiday, rituals were held to celebrate light, the source of organic life on earth.
8. Portland Limestone (Dorset)
Mitochondria – Biology
Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles (mitochondrion, singular) that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell's biochemical reactions. Chemical energy produced by the mitochondria is stored in a small molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) -the energy-carrying molecule found in all living cells.
9. Lamprophyre (Devon)
Carved Fossil of a Birch leaf – Stone Lane Garden’s Birch trees and to remember the founder Kenneth Ashbourne
Leaves are the means of capturing light from the sun and grounding it into food web of living things. Plants, through the process of photosynthesis, make use of the sunlight to energise and generate glucose through the available water and carbon dioxide. This glucose through pathways can be converted into pyruvate. Through cellular respiration, pyruvate in turn gives ATP (adenosine triphosphate). We are all interconnected from the energy of light, the roots of the trees. Grounded in community.
Kenneth Ashburner (BSc Hort.), who gave (along with his wife) Stone Gardens to be a Trust, carried out a great deal of research into Birch so it is fitting that the birch leaf should be at the top of this Totem.
View the video
Ashburner Prize Winner 2022
