Escalator

Installation of a full size replica of an escalator in New County Hall Truro Cornwall New County Hall represents a particular civic architecture of the post-war period. Built with great modernist sanguinity, these spaces exist in nearly every city in the country. Their fresh, optimistic energy has mellowed over the years into a kind of benign neutrality. The materials that make up this particular space; the marble - always a good indicator of status – unadorned rough cast concrete, rough hewn slate and stainless steel that were once daringly juxtaposed have with the patina of 4 decades and a post-modern eye lost their intended vitality. Now for many the building is just another place of work, the foyer merely an anonymous interstice between the car and office or meeting room. I was interested in re vitalising the foyer space with an installation that has a direct dialogue with the architecture and which will hopefully re engage those that come into the space on a daily basis with their surroundings as well as inviting questions of ownership and decision-making.