Time passes & still I think of you (for my mother) by Giles Round
The ARCS arts team are very proud to have worked with Related Argent, Barnet Council, fabricators AJ Wells and the incomparable Giles Round over the last few months to get this exceptional large scale work commissioned, imagined, made and installed in time for the opening of the first new mainline station to open in London for over a decade.
Time passes & still I think of you (for my mother) is a large-scale architectural frieze, covering 250sq metres in three parts, running along the full 48 metre length of The Arbour, the entrance building for the new Brent Cross West Station in London.
Dedicated to the artist’s late mother Margaret Round, who for a time worked in Brent Cross shopping centre, this new work combines the artist’s personal memories with ideas about how place is essential to who we are. The work draws on the notion that what we build can connect us with the landscapes of our lives; and is a tender monument to love, loss and hope. From Giles: “The work is a monument to love. It is for everyone, in particular, all we have lost.
ARCS worked with Related Argent to identify the artist and the opportunity for the commission, managing the process from the first meeting to the final cleaning of the panels after install. This is the fifth and largest artwork commissioned by Related Argent and Barnet Council for Brent Cross Town, a new park town in North West London.
Phoebe Greenwood, ARCS: ‘Giles Round is one of the UK’s most important artists with significant permanent public artworks across the country. Round's work is motivated by the invigorating belief in the role of the artist as an agent for transformation in society. Raised in Barnet, and with a self-built studio in the borough, the artist's commitment to the civic and their unique relationship to the location has brought something profoundly personal into this new public space. This is a vibrant artwork. Bright colour, bold geometry, scale, beauty, pleasure - these are important elements the artist enjoys working with. Round wants the artwork to bring joy in the moment. They also leave us with something to reflect on, a reaching out, an acknowledgement of the diverse stories carried by each of us.’
Time passes & still I think of you is constructed using vitreous enamel panels, which are common to transport environments around the UK. Vitreous enamel is a smooth, glassy, and very durable surface made from a glass mixture fused to a metal substrate at temperatures over 800°C. The work was made in the Isle of Wight by AJ Wells, the largest vitreous enamel supplier in the UK and the principal supplier of enamel signage and cladding for London Underground.
Curated and produced by ARCS Art Team: Nadja Coyne, Phoebe Greenwood, Jo Paton
Commissioned by Related Argent and Barnet Council
