This was a joint commission with Andy Plant
(see www.andyplant.co.uk). Water slowly fills a
tube (lower left of ladder) showing the minutes. On the hour, water from a tank on the
roof tips a set of cups above the dial, each ringing a bell. The row of figures at the
bottom tip their watering cans, filling a tank behind the shop sign. Inside the tank are
plastic flowers on floats, which appear to grow as they are watered. The child figure on
the left swings out to water people on the pavement below.
This was made in collaboration with Rex
Garrod and Andy Plant. The wind powers a generator which charges a battery to keep the
electric clock movement running. On the hour, a clutch engages, connecting the windmill
directly to the figures who strike the gong (so on a windy day it chimes madly, and on a
calm day it hardly chimes at all). It was commissioned for the Liverpool Garden festival,
but was unreliable as the generator only charged the battery in gale force winds. It then
returned to Rex’s garden for a few years, then lay in a field for a few years and is
now in my garden.
WOOTEN'S NURSERY
CLOCK, 1992
(Wenhaston, Suffolk)
The columns either side of the dial are heat
exchanger tubes from Sizewell A nuclear power station. They have a wonderful ring and
chime the quarters. On the hour the gardner also waters anyone passing below.
