Slate Work South
Ackroyd & Harvey
Slate Work South
As part of the development of the David Attenborough Building itself, Ackroyd and Harvey were awarded a major public art commission in response to the redevelopment of this iconic brutalist building, originally designed by Arup Associates in the 1960’s. The work is one of two large-scale exterior works composed of intensively layered slate.
This work takes inspiration from a black walnut tree photographed by the artists in the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. It acknowledges both the history of the New Museums Site as the original home to the botanical garden in the 18th century and the archetypal ‘tree of life’ that has been used in science, philosophy, art and mythology for centuries. It alludes to the connection of all life on planet Earth, serving as a metaphor for common descent in evolutionary biology as famously captured by Darwin’s dendrogram drawing in On the Origin of Species.
The artwork is akin to a graphite pencil drawing with subtle shading and tonalities that shift and change as the light plays on the slate surface. The colour of the slate echoes the tall grey towers, iconic landmarks of The David Attenborough Building. Constructed from layers of slate that create a sense of rock strata, within the wall are discrete spaces to attract a range of wildlife including bats, solitary bees, spiders and insects. The Museum of Zoology launched a project with local schools and over 3,000 snail shells were collected, many of which a hidden with Slate Wall South.
Over 500 million years old, Welsh slate is acknowledged as the finest of its type worldwide; light grey in colour with a subtle reflective surface, the riven cut edge lends a chalky white slant to the grey, and the material used in the artwork is a waste product from the roof tiling industry.
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)
David Attenborough Building, Cambridge – 30th June 2016 – Installation view of Slate Work East and Slate Work South by artists Ackroyd and Harvey. Commissioned by the University of Cambridge in 2016 for the creation of the Cambridge Conservation Institute Campus and refurbishment of the Museum of Zoology. (Toby Smith)