Gas Holder

This work explores obsolescence of suburban infrastructure and consists of fabric panels representing vertical welded iron girder struts of the three gas holders situated in Motspur Park.  It is intended to allow the viewer to experience the place and celebrate the changing culture of British suburban life and communities.

This installation intends to comment on our changing energy needs and uses over the last century. The gas holders dominate the skyline in Motspur Park and have become cultural markers for the place.  They are now obsolete, as modern gas supply no longer requires them.

There are plans to build flats on the site. 

This is a textile representation of the Motspur Park gas holders using only found or existing materials. The discarded domestic textiles (net curtains, doilies, curtains, tea towels, antimacassars, tablecloths, bedsheets) have been sourced from local charity shops, donations from friends, from deadstock suppliers and a used linen warehouse.

By organising and ordering these old-fashioned “traditional” suburban English textiles into an installation, it creates a new purpose for them.  The story is further enriched by adding textiles and techniques from overseas to represent the modern population of Motspur Park.

The pieces are constructed using the Jokagbo technique that originated from Korea.

This textile Gas Holder is an assemblage of other peoples’ suburban material memories that now take on a new meaning and tell an updated story.  In making new from old in a thoughtful way,  a modern narrative of Motspur Park is created and a meaningful record of these obsolete cultural markers is created.