NATIONAL COAL MINING MEMORIAL
NAME : Lives Lived, Lives Lost DATE : 2015 CLIENT : National Coal Mining Museum of England LOCATION : Wakefield PARTNERS : Chris Brammall Ltd, Stonegate Glass Studio, DP Structures, Cumbrian Stone
Aim
To create a focal point within a garden of reflection at the National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield, in the form of a national mining memorial able to grow as mining families contribute to it.
Concept
Thinking about miners carrying their tags deep underground gave us the image of glass discs dropped in a wall modelled on the cross-section of a mine. Name tags cast in coloured glass would shine in the wall like miners lighting up a mine with their torches and their humanity.
The glass discs would be ordered through the museum by the families of former miners and would gradually accumulate, transforming the memorial from a wall into a stained glass window. By that time, payment taken for the discs would enable the museum to commission a second wall. If the idea caught on, this process could continue indefinitely.
For visitors connected to the mining industry, this creates a work-in-progress to which they can contribute. For other visitors, it creates a stimulating artwork and hopefully moving memorial to explore. In time, discs bearing the names of miners from collieries all over the country will come to sit side by side.
Individuals, families or groups will be able to order and purchase a glass disc through the museum website. This will enable people to participate anywhere in the country or across the world.
https://www.ncm.org.uk/donate/support-our-miners-memorial-garden
Process
The sculpture wall was fabricated in corten steel Chris Brammall Ltd, and the glass discs continue to be made by Stonegate glass studio.
We supported the memorial with additional elements: a central stone seat, plus a gate and secondary seat in corten steel made by Chris Brammall.
THE UNveiling
“The Museum is inviting mining communities to become a part of the artwork ‘Lives Lived, Lives Lost’ which will hold personal coal mining memories in the form of symbolic glass checks, held within a steel installation.”