Plinth Dates: 19 – 21 August 2011

A piece of granite, formerly part of Nelson’s Pillar, Dublin

Nelson’s Pillar (not to be confused with the later Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square), stood in the centre of Dublin from 1808 until March 1966, when it was destroyed by a bomb planted by former members of the IRA (not considered at the time to be an active organisation).

I was in Dublin that night, on a school rugby trip from Belfast, and naturally we went to see the devastation. The pile of rubble was being ‘guarded’ by a policeman, but he wasn’t taking the whole thing very seriously and would give you a piece, if you asked.

Since this piece of granite has spent so many years on a plinth in Dublin, I thought it appropriate to give it three days more on the Fourth Plinth. If that seems short in relation to its 158 years on display in Dublin, we might remember that granite such as this from the Wicklow Mountains is about 445 million years old.

Jim Bennett

Plinth Dates: 16 – 18 August 2011

Crackleplant, mixed media, by Mike Blow, 2011

Crackleplants are sculptural musical instruments which can be played by touching combinations of leaves. Some combinations make more sound than others, as the sound of the electronic circuit is altered by skin resistance.

http://www.evolutionaryart.co.uk

Mike Blow

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Plinth Dates: 11 – 13 August 2011

‘Dog and Bone’, by Rachel Woodruff, c.1997

I made this during my degree, combining a long held fascination with skeletons and, well, telephones. It is modelled on the classic BT phone of the 1980s that I still own. I knew I would find a home for it one day!

It is made mainly of chicken bones – boiling them made our student house smell rather interesting for a while.

Reading meaning into it today, it occurred to me that it could be viewed as a commentary on the changes in communication over the last couple of decades, perhaps even the death of real communication. Or you might just think it is an intriguing object.

Rachel Woodruff

Plinth Dates: 9 – 11 August 2011

The ‘Empire’ Music Leaf Turner by the British and Colonial Industries Association, c.1890

Musicians often need to turn the pages of their music quickly, having no time to put down their violin bow or flute. A number of ingenious automatic page-turners have been devised from the nineteenth century – the conductor Charles Halle (1819-1895) is said to have invented an early one – right up to the present day. This patented example was made by the British and Colonial Industries Association in the 1890s. It operates by spring-loaded levers which are interleaved between the music pages before the performance starts. They are activated by tapping the shiny metal extension with a bow, or by blowing sharply into the cup.

Contributed by Dr Robert Anderson

Plinth Dates: 2 – 7 August 2011

Plaiting machine made of LEGO by Alex Allmont Oxford, 2010

The LEGO Plaiting Machine slowly weaves together three yarns of wool through the force of gravity. To regulate its speed the machine uses an ornate clock escapement from the late 19th century called a ‘flying pendulum’; this escapement is very sensitive to change and can behave erratically when driving a varying load such as this complex machine. The plaiting movement is similar to that used in rope manufacture to this day.

Alex Allmont is currently studying Contemporary Art and Music at Oxford Brookes University, where this piece was presented as specialist subject work in early 2011.

This machine resets every 10 minutes.

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