julian rowe
julian rowe
visual artist
visual artist
… irnen [2002]
Irnen
,
the
title
of
Julian
Rowe's
installation,
is
a
Middle
English
term
for
any
object
made
of
iron.
The
rich,
orange-red
iron
deposits
which
colour
the
local
streams
and
soil
remind
us
constantly
of
the
geology
of
the
Wealden
landscape.
But
the
passing
of
time
and
an
over-familiarity
with
local
place
names
like
Furnace
Wood
or
Cinder
Hill,
may
mist
their
meaning
and
significance
as
indicators of past communities and industry.
For
Rowe,
landscape
is
the
product
of
the
relationship
between
natural
and
cultural
processes.
The
human,
cultural
contribution
to
that
relationship
is
the
superimposition
of
order
and
geometry
upon
the
natural
world.
Irnen
is
a
manifestation
of
this
ordering
process.
Irnen
is
a
map,
a
structure
which
renders
the
landscape
intelligible
and
refers
to
the
layers
of
human
activity
which
have
left
their
Imprint on the landscape of the Weald.
The
Celts
were
the
first
to
make
tentative
expeditions
from
their
settlements
on
the
Downs
into
the
dense
forests
of
the
Weald
to
extract
iron.
In
the
16th
and
17th
century
the
streams
were
dammed
to
form
ponds
which
powered
the
trip-hammers
of
the
forges,
and
dense
oak
and
beech
forests
were
felled
to
be
slow-burnt
into
charcoal
to
feed
the
furnaces
in
which
the
iron
was
made
and
formed.
In
Irnen
the
natural
and
the
engineered
are
held
together
in
tension.
Wood
and
iron
are
combined,
the
organic
and
the
elemental
brought
together.
The
chain
linkages
and
iron
hoops
are
functional,
utilitarian
items,
products
redolent
of
a
once
thriving
local
industry
which
shifted
to
the
north
of
England
with
the
growth
of
the
coal
trade.
These
linkages,
whilst
still
weighty,
have
been
cast
by
Rowe
from
a
compound
of
resin
and
iron
powder.
The
inter-connected
knots
are
evidence
of
repetitive,
systematic
practices.
It
is
timber,
sawn
and
shaped,
that
holds
the
structure
taut,
supporting
its
weight
and
counteracting
gravity's
downward
pull.
Within
this
network
of
complex,
mechanistic
elements,
nature
asserts
a
presence
in
Rowe's
unique
landscape.
Dry
Wealden
soil
clings
to
the
contorted
and
desiccated
roots
of
the
grubbed
tree
stumps,
suspended
and
encircled
by
forged
iron.
Oxygen
and
moisture
react
to
rust
the
chain
links
and
imbue
the
work
with
dense,
earth colours.
Rowe's
practice
is
linked
intrinsically
to
specific
places
he
knows
and
with
which
he
has
a
strong
psychological
affinity.
He
lives
in
Lamberhurst
and
writes
of
the
ritual
of
gathering
the
found
objects,
mud
and
plant
matter
which
he
uses
in
his
work.
The
Weald
Gallery
setting
provided
Rowe
with
a
challenging
opportunity
to
extend
his
practice
and
develop
Irnen
in
three
dimensions.
The
installation
was
assembled
in
the
gallery
during
the
course
of
the
exhibition,
giving
visitors
an
opportunity to discuss the process with the artist.
In
experiencing
Irnen
we
are
invited
to
engage
with
Rowe's
unique
ordering
of
a
very
specific
landscape and consider our place within the past, present and future of that landscape.
© Marian Williams BA (Hons) MA - Art Historian
projects and exhibitions
projects and exhibitions
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