Earthen Sculptures

RICHARD GIBSON

Earthen Sculptures

The Earthen Sculptures by Sculptor Richard Gibson. Richard is a practising ceramicist, sculptor, project manager, lecturer, and event organiser with over 20 years of experience. His work has received national attention and has been displayed globally. Richard has worked with a variety of materials to produce permanent and frequently large-scale public art, but clay has remained a persistent source of curiosity for him¹.

The Earthen Sculptures, the first of three buildings based on the vernacular architectural approach of Rammed Earth was the Ritual Building of New Earth. The custom of building houses may be traced all the way back to Neolithic times. It is thought that the first homes built by civilised man followed a similar pattern. These projects were inspired by the study of earthen architecture by pre- and post-industrialized people all across the world.

The Ferry Meadows Country Park was home to the New Earth Sculpture. The project took many months to complete and required 17 tonnes of sub dirt. The wood used is considered to be at least three hundred years old. Earthen Sculpture was funded by the Lottery Funding and it cost £5,000. The artwork sparked a rousing debate with some outraged at the waste of lottery funding and others defending the artist.

Peterborough Sculpture Trust, in collaboration with The Nene Park Trust and Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, commissioned the project. It was supported by Awards For All and was part of the Sculpture Trust collection. The project received a lot of national and international attention².

Recently, I met with the artist to learn more about what happened to the Earthen Sculpture. He was unsure of the decision made by the head of the council at the time. The decision was made to bulldoze the sculptures and remove them permanently from the site. No records were preserved except some newspaper cuttings kept by Richard. Unfortunately, many people in this generation were unaware of or had never seen the sculptures. According to Richard, five other sculptures with the same concept had been made at the time. One of them, situated near the entrance slightly west of Castor, was the only one he was aware of. We are not certain if it is still there³. Regeneration, Regeneration-Acorn and Gateway are three other sculptures by Richard that are listed on this website.

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