Rook Crossing

David Kemp – Farra Grain – 1981

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Photograph from ‘A sense of place’ 1984 by Mark Prior

Alternate Title: Rooks

Material: Wood

Trail: Silurian Way

Theme: Nature

Form: Figurative – Birds

Maps Featured on: ?, 1984 – 1987

Status: Removed, no remains

Quote from the Artist: “The rooks were my first piece and made from the off-cuts of stake making. I sited the piece astride the trail, and designed it to be walked past, its aspect changing in passing… I found a great mounds of the offcuts of stake making. The essence of Rook Crossing was there; a light friendly piece that would make the weary walker smile.”

Sited over a small beck near Farra Grain Gill. It was relatively high up, several wooden cross beams with multiple (at least 19) small birds made out of wooden post offcuts, sitting on them. The photo above I presume was taken in 1981, when new.

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From ‘Presences of Nature’ 1982

Quote from the Artist: “I revisited Grizedale again in 1982. The rooks had been totally destroyed by vandals. I re sited them on the top of a hill on individual posts, a sort of ‘visual sentence’ but at least they’ll be difficult to knock down.” From Studio International vol 196, 1983

This part of the forest is pretty remote, and seems to be plagued by vandalism around this time (Running Table nearby also had a similar fate.)

They were not listed on the 1989 map so presumably went completely by then. One last rook, a descendent of these birds, can still be seen sitting on the Ancient Forester 2’s shoulder to this day.

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Photograph Taken 2017

Sculpture in other artworks

Grizedale 2 – 1989 – Panayiotis Kalorkoti 

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This painting shows one of the Rooks bottom right, this is drawn when they were in their second iteration of the rooks sitting on individual posts. Further paintings of sculptures in the forest in can be seen on the Gallery in the Forest page.

Sculpture Homage

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Homemade rooks by Grizedale visitor Johnny Palmer

Artist’s other work in Grizedale –

Scale Green Birdman – 1981

The Heron – 1981

Deer Hunter – 1982

Forest Fugue – 1984

The Wood-Winders – 1984

Ancient Forester 1 – 1987

Ancient Forester 2 – 1995

Exhibition – 1984

Artist’s Website: www.davidkemp.uk.com

Page last updated Jan 2021