Columns
Giles Kent 1996
This is perhaps the sculpture which best illustrates the fact that Grizedale is a fully working forest. What this means is that whole patches of woodland are grown, cut down and grown again, across an area of twenty four square kilometres 'Columns' (the sculpture is listed on artist Giles Kent's website as 'Sitka Spruce 22feet/6.7m High'; its actual title - Kent was pushed by Bill Grant into coming up with a more guide-friendly name) has almost seen this process go full circle around it - when it was built in 1996 this spot was surrounded by the tall, narrow Sitka spruce which lay at the sides of the road like an impenetrable wall.
Several years later, the trees were all felled and the sculpture was exposed to the elements, but it managed to hold out. Now, more trees are growing up around it and there's a high chance that, if it can survive, it will find itself back where it started, engulfed in woodland.
Giles Kent said about the sculpture:
"My sculptures at Grizedale were influenced by the epic expanses of conifers. They refer to the conifer's strong vertical lines of growth, that from far below, appear to pierce the sky."
Also by this artist:
Pinnacles 1996