Pylons made from discarded copper wire using bobbin lace
Introduced in 1928, electricity pylons were innovative and transformed peoples’ lives. Now they have become an almost invisible part of our landscape and built environment.
We have forgotten the vision they represented, their history and the essential role they have played in our country’s evolution. This design remained largely unchanged until 2021. It is now obsolete in the UK.
When new, they were viewed as part of an exciting future energy transmission system enabling us to transform our lives, bringing the power we need for changing society to adapt and evolve. Progress has been made so that power is being generated in a cleaner, renewable way, but the pylons have remained a constant connection: in terms of geography, (connecting to each other across the landscape), over time (connecting us with our past) and literally connecting us to the National Power grid.
A bobbin lace pricking pattern was designed and test pieces made using repurposed copper wire extracted from discarded domestic appliance cables. Then the first pylon prototype was constructed in 3-D.
A slightly larger version was made using the same re-purposed copper wire, but this time it was soldered together into long strands. This avoided the bulky joins needed for the shorter wire pieces in the prototype pylon.
It has an individual style, with visible joins: has an handmade, individual look, and is evocative of wabi-sabi (the Japanese philosophy of finding beauty within imperfection, as well as accepting the transient nature of being).
The pylon pieces are made entirely with material circularity system in mind, as they are made from re-purposed waste wire.
Over the years of being anchored to the earth, it isn’t hard to imagine that they may have grown roots.
You may commission a pylon of your own. Please contact me for details
Pylon Tour dates:
JJ Galleries, Hoxton: 3rd September 2024
Wimbledon Arts Trial, Merton Park: 14 & 15 September 2024
Clapham-cum-Newby, LA2 8EQ Badger in the Wall Gallery: 26th September -2 November 2024
Morley Gallery, Waterloo, London: 10 – 16 March 2025
Sarah McAlister 