Axe Life Cycle
Jeremy Cunningham 1991
A clever and oddly touching glimpse into the life of an anthropomorphised axe, this was located on the lower section of the first half of the Ridding Wood Trail, just after Andy Frost's 'Stag Herd Roof'. Jeremy Cunningham spoke about the sculpture in 'Natural Order':
"Through working in rural locations, I have become very aware of the variety of natural cycles which take place around me, and parallel cycles which result from various forms of husbandry. In the last year I have sought ways to use these cycles in my sculpture whilst continuing a long-running interest in the sculptural potential of hand tool forms.
In the Axe Life Cycle for the Grizedale forest, my concerns with cycles and tools have come together. I hope I have turned the usual associations of of the axe literally on their head. The axe-head has a similar shape to the first leaves of some seedlings which are drawn out of the ground by elongation of the shoot."
Also by this artist:
Time Flies 1993
Photograph by Val Corbett