The Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Limited

Richard Deacon's sculpture would have been a painted steel latticework outlining a 'stack' of 26 differently shaped polyhedrons, which would have interconnected to create a skeletal framework suggestive of a giant crystalline structure. Deacon refered to this as a 'nest'

The structure would have had strong similarities to a cairn, a pile of stones, historically created by man to mark routes, high-points and burial sites. Deacon explored the richness of archaeological discoveries at Springhead, such as the Anglo-Saxon graveyard discovered to the east of the site. The use of a cairn as a landmark has a strong resonance with the concept of creating a location marker for the new Ebbsfleet Valley. Deacon was also inspired by how dramatically man has shaped the landscape in this part of Kent. The folded steel structure would have given the impression of a framework surrounding an absent solid - referencing the vast quantities of chalk that have been carved away and the negative quarry spaces this has left.

The number of modules, 26, corresponded to the number of letters in the alphabet, and Deacon sees writing as a cornerstone of western culture. The interconnecting modules were suggestive of a pile of alphabet blocks - a series of letters being knitted together to create words and worlds.

Deacon is very interested in how viewers interact with his sculptures in public places. It would have been possible to walk directly beneath and into this sculpture and look up and through the 'windows' the steel lattice would create - each one framing the changing views of the surrounding landscapes and skies.

Richard Deacon has been a leading figure in British sculpture since the 1980s. His consistently innovative use of form and his interest in materials and their manipulation make him one of the most inventive artists of our time

Throughout his career, Deacon has worked with a diverse range of materials including laminated wood, polycarbonate, leather cloth, stainless steel and clay. In a recent interview he explains: "changing materials from one work to the next is a way of beginning again each time (and thus of finishing what had gone before)." (Deacon, 2005)

His hand-built ceramic works are inspired by the simple gestures of how the material reacts to methods of construction and manipulation, where hollowing, carving, piling and squashing become techniques in themselves. His constructions are often of unexpected scale, ranging from the domestic to the monumental. Deacon won the Turner Prize in 1987 and has undertaken a wide range of commissions for large-scale public works around the world.

Richard Deacon is represented in the UK by the Lisson Gallery
www.lissongallery.com|