"Vicious Circle"

An art installation for Holy Week and Easter

 

 Vicious circle is a creative attempt to help people reflect on issues of common humanity and theology during Lent, Holy Week and Easter 2010. The sculpture was made by Revd Magdalen Smith over two afternoons. Its materials are concrete (mostly painted white) and glass tinted with stained glass. These are colours reminiscent of bruising and blood. It can be interpreted as a contemporary crown of thorns.

 "We use so many words in Church. Art can help us see things from a different perspective and touch us sometimes at a deeper level," she writes. "Many people have found the installation challenging and moving simultaneously. There are 33 circles. Amongst the circles is a handprint, a piece of mirror and several embedded glass laid into and some laid loosely on top of the circles. There is also one containing water, reminiscent of the basin Pontius Pilate used to wash his hands of Jesus."

I order to make Vicious Circle something which was meaningful and interactive for people, Magdalen asked 30 people she knew to think about what their own "vicious circle" might be, whether they were able to find a way out of them and whether faith played a part in this. Some of the answers were:

"withdrawal"

"despair"

"Not saying 'no'"

"Acting out of bitterness because of past disappointment - I know it's unfair but I can't seem to break out of it."

Magdalen working with Peter Johnson to create the installation

The sculpture is displayed from 21st March to 15th April 2010. Magdalen used the piece as a discussion starter for a variety of groups and she preached on the installation on Passion Sunday, talking about four of the characters who surrounded Jesus on his journey to the cross and the vicious circles they found themselves in: Judas (greed and power), Peter (lying), Pilate (popularity and weakness) and Mary (a parent's circle of love and protection and yet knowing a child has to be 'let go' in order to blossom to life their own lives.

Magdalen hopes to create a different installation each year. Vicious circle is available to borrow free of charge. For contact details please see our "Contact us" page.

Previously in the Parish....   "Windsails"

An installation for Advent

In Wilmslow Parish we hope to have an installation such as Windsails once or twice each year. Installations will be preached on and there will be drop-in sessions for people to come and talk or respond to them over coffee and cake. Art works such as this can help us to understand and experience the presence of and action of God in a way which is different from just using words. Over centuries a variety of artists have attempted to describe and comments on matters of faith in a variety of different ways; we want to be a part of this tradition in our own way. Art can produce a presence, an atmosphere that sometimes enables us to grasp truths from a different perspective.

I first experienced Wilndsails at Wesley Methodist Church in Chester  few years ago. The installation provided a beautiful, still and reflective space for shoppers to enjoy some stillness in what can be a manic time in the run up to Christmas. At St Bartholomew's church during Advent 2009 we hung up the sails in our own Styal Chapel. During December many people entered our church for a variety of different reasons. Some people were thirsty for a quiet space to escape from the rush of present buying and preparation. Lots of schools with children, teachers and parents came to hold their carol services. Many visitors simply wandered in, wanting to see the church itself and were pleasantly surprised by the Windsails soothing presence.

Windsails was produced by artists Wendy Rudd. Whilst staying on the island of Lindisfarne she became fascinated by the spaces between the stacked crab nets or creels. After sketching these, she began to construct triangular shapes made of thin cane and these were filled in with meshes of paper, string and thread, until they became "sails". Connected and hung from one another, they become mobiles, responsive to the slightest breath.

As people slow down and watched them, the Windsails can encapsulate all sorts of meanings. some find that the battered textures of some of the sails speak of pain and suffering, while many comment on the tranquillity of their gentle movements. some see relationships and family trees, held in balance in the presence of God. Different people and personalities will see different things but in the whole there is a mystery and power which is difficult to pin down. A book of comments was left for people to write down their thoughts should they wish to.

Thanks to Wendy Rudd for lending them to us and to Rod Franks for helping to install them.