Horden Colliery opened in 1900 and in 1930 it set the European record for the most coal mined by a single colliery in a day - 6758 tonnes.
This artwork represents the spirit of Horden which lives on in the memories of people who lived through the coal years.
The artwork was inspired some words I read about going down in a cage or lift.
“We must step into the cage - a kind of vertical railway carriage, open at the sides. The signals have been made and answered. We are now in total darkness, sliding down until we are at the bottom. 958 feet in four minutes and a half.”
The first iteration of the design was a seat.
From the quotation came the design - which was originally going to be a seat. However as the position of the artwork changed we developed the design further and it became more of a lift cage shape. The poem has been taken from the same quotation.
INTO THE DARK - INTO THE LIGHT.
Once the design became an upright cage we introduced the notion of replicating a block of coal as the base. This was achieved by using cast concrete with a textured finish done by our local concrete experts at Bespoke Concrete.
Concrete being delivered to site.
The frame was made locally too - in Sunderland - by Fitz Fabrications - using Corten steel with laser cutting and insets off resin representing the colours as the cage powered down through the levels. The laser cutting represents elements of mining and Horden including the colliery houses and their smoke filling the air as the pit cage descends into the ground to bring coal to the surface.
