My representation of this installation is a photograph of a video. It shows a moment in time of a brief but dramatic video. The Cragside blog describes the video installation.
Irene Brown’s work, Fulmination, is an intense video installation in which Cragside is repeatedly struck by lightening. The video is projected through a full glass bottle and has sound as well as imagery. It is located in the Study, the shutters will be up across the windows and the room slightly darkened, very atmospheric!
Information next to Irene’s work provides the following information.
Irene Brown’s work is based on illusion, both optical and material. Presenting an artistic acknowledgement of the significant role Armstrong played in scientific research, invention and his fascination with hydro electric power.
Situated within Armstrong’s study it implies his thought processes and ideas about this special place.
Irene Brown is a Newcastle based artist
Tags: 150th Anniversary, Building Dreams, Cragside, National Trust, Northumber- land, Vacation
2013 marked the 150th anniversary of Cragside and a series of events took place to commemorate the occasion. The events were designed to share Lord and Lady Armstrong’s pioneering vision.
I have previously posted a picture of the carpet bedding that was planted in the formal gardens to celebrate the occasion. Another project on display throughout the season was the ‘Building Dreams: Artworks’. Four artworks were installed at various locations around the Cragside estate. The works included sailing dinghies on Nelly’s Moss Lake, a live electrical experiment in Cragside House, an art installation featuring over a thousand model cranes and trucks at the Pinetum and a projection inside the house.
I was able to photograph three of them and in this post I feature Hydraulic Colony by rednile projects. My walk to this feature led to my chance encounter with Douglas.
This work focuses on the achievements of Lady Armstrong who was pivotal in altering the landscape of Cragside by importing millions of North American Pines.
rednile have created their own ‘alien species’ in the lush green of the Pinetum, a sculpture made up of hundreds of childrens toys with hydraulic parts.
The work also references Lord Armstrong’s influence in the industrial revolution and celebrates the notion of ’playing’, which is how rednile believe he made many of his discoveries.
rednile projects are artist Suzanne Hutton, Michael Braithwaite and Janine Goldsworthy who are based in the North East and Yorkshire.
*Information taken from a plaque by the installation.
Tags: 150th Anniversary, Building Dreams, Cragside, National Trust, Northumber- land, rednile projects, Vacation
…did not start well
Last Monday on my way into work I looked down at the electronic dash on my car and noticed that the middle panel had gone completely blank!! It was devoid of information.
When I arrived at work I phoned the place where I normally have it serviced. They advised me that they didn’t have a diagnostic machine in the local garage and gave me a choice of the two garages in their dealership that could do that for me. I booked it in to the nearest of the two although I was not happy as neither location was convenient to get my car to and it would have meant taking the day off work.
I then remembered that I had recently noticed an advert for a local dealership. I found their number and phoned to see if they could help. They were able to look at it next day if I could leave my car there all day which was not problem. It being local meant that there were lots of options for getting too and from work. They also concurred with my assessment that it was an electronics failure and if that was the case it would probably be expensive!!
They ran the diagnostics over it and advised a new dash was required. Expensive, but not quite as expensive as I expected. I left the car there over night as the part was not in stock (no surprise there), but it was delivered the next day. They also identified a problem with one of my tyres… There is a nail in it which they said was not repairable. I took that one away to be remedied elsewhere.
When I went to drive away after picking up my car I noticed a blue light on the dash board (the temperature gauge). I didn’t remember seeing a blue light on the dash before only red and orange warning ones! It left me wondering if the dashboard had been faulty from the day I bought the car…
…Then there was a week of computer problems at work!
And just top the week off my camera tripod broke whilst I was folding it up after taking photographs to accompany an upcoming post. I think I can obtain spares for repairs, but I need to check out if they are available for my model.
On the plus side I had a nice day on Saturday visiting my Aunt to celebrate her 89th birthday 
Tags: Car, Cherie's Place, Life, Repairs
It is my turn at Vision & Verb today. My post is about the extreme weather that has been taking place in the British Isles recently.
I invite you to join me there.
Tags: Corel Painter Essentials, Floods, Freakish Weather, Life, Rain, Vision & Verb, Weather, Wind
No man or woman even of the humblest sort, can be really strong and gentle, pure and good, without the world being a better place for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.
Phillips Brooks
Tags: Cherie's Place Thought, National Trust, Northumber- land, Vacation, Waterfall
Douglas is carved from a 140-year-old fallen pine within in the grounds of the Cragside Estate. The artwork was created by Tommy Craggs from Durham.
The latest edition of the National Trust Magazine provides a brief news snippet:
Tree carvings can be seen in places ranging from inner-city Victorian parks to the great landscapes of the National Trust. We would like your help to track them down. Please send pictures and comments to us as part of a project that includes members of the National Trust, the Woodland Trust, the Arboricultural Association and the Ancient Tree forum.
www.ukeconet.org
In a previous post I blogged about an owl sculpture within the formal gardens at Cragside.
Tags: Carving, Cragside, National Trust, Northumber- land, Sculpture, Tommy Craggs, Tree, Vacation
