2009-2010
Hillington industrial estate lies on the outskirts of Glasgow, near Renfrew. Set out in a distinctive 4 x 4 grid, the factory was purpose built, planned in the run-up to WW2 as a shadow factory to Rolls Royce in Derby for the manufacture Merlin aero-engines. It lies (although now separated from it by the M8), alongside the flat fields which once were home to Renfrew Aerodrome. The aerodrome was formed in 1914 and would grow to become a major international airport by the 1960’s before its business was transferred to nearby Abbotsinch, where the current Glasgow airport operates.
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I began with a series of paintings which drew on my thoughts of the factory, it’s continuing physical presence in the landscape, it’s former production line, and the wide open airspace over the factory and the airfield.
Then, for the airframe chairs, I made three metal frames and inserted a ‘seat’ into each frame, echoing the insertion of those WWII aero-engines into their respective airframes.
For me, the chairs came to encompass three thoughts.
Firstly the materials and manufacturing processes.
Secondly, the workforce who worked twelve hour shifts and took their tea-breaks standing by their machines – this made me imagine that when they got the chance, they’d perhaps have gathered outside the factory doors perched uncomfortably for a few minutes on empty tea chests and packing cases for a cuppa and a fag.
The third thought was that the open cubic frames of the chairs seemed to be measuring or defining a volume of air, but in reality the air was fluid and ever changing.
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Later in the year, using stained glass and animation, I took my thoughts about the airspace over Hillington and Renfrew Aerodrome further, starting with the cubic measure suggested by the airframe chairs and thinking about how three-dimensional space and time might be conveyed.
hillington : renfrew aerodrome : 2D work
hillington : airframe chairs deployed
hillington : renfrew aerodrome : glass plates