Digging
Images: Matthew Fessey
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Digging the mud
Digging the mud
Filming the digging
Digging the mud
Hosing down the slipway
The slipway at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Riverbank at Shirehampton, Bristol
The riverside at Shirehampton, Bristol
Mud
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Digging the mud
Digging the mud
Digging the mud
Tools for digging
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Shirehampton, near the M5 motorway
The slipway at Shirehampton, Bristol
Mud
Digging and sifting the mud
Ferrying the mud up the slipway
Digging the mud
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
River mud
A crate of mud
Liz sifts the mud
Digging the mud
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Digging the mud
Digging the mud
Digging the mud
Preparing to dig the mud
Artist Liz Crow, assisted by the production team, heads down the slipway at Shirehampton, Bristol, to dig the mud
Artist Liz Crow, assisted by the production team, heads down the slipway at Shirehampton, Bristol, to dig the mud
Mudbanks at Shirehampton, Bristol, where the mud was dug
Pugmilling
Images: Matthew Fessey
Pugmilling the mud. The process mixes the mud reduces air bubbles
Pugmilling the mud
Pugmilling the mud
Oil is poured onto the board, ready to receive the extruded mud
The mud is extruded from the pugmill
The extruded mud is cut to size, ready for sculpting
Liz shapes the mud
Pugmilling the mud
Pugmilling the mud
The mud prepared for sculpting
Residue of mud
The mud is taken into storage
The pugmill
The mud is pushed into the pugmill
Pugmilling the mud
The pugmill
The pugmill
The pugmill
The mud is ready for sculpting
The mud is prepared
The mud is prepared
Hailstones inside Ibstock
Making
Images: Claudio Ahlers
Waiting to go down to the foreshore for a making session
Heading down to the foreshore for a making session. Wheelchair-user Liz is lifted in a fabric sling by members of the team
Heading across the foreshore to the making space
Heading across the foreshore to the making space
The clay is piled ready for sculpting
Liz begins to sculpt a figure
Adding the eyes to a figure
Completing a figure
A making session
An early morning making session
An early morning making session
Liz completes a figure
Jess Kiely, Liz’s PA, brings Liz a drink
Liz sculpting in an early morning making session
A completed figure
Audiences are intrigued
Public conversations about the themes raised by the work
The almost-camouflaged figures of artist and clay provoke interest
Audience on the foreshore
Another figure is completed
A completed figure
Figures on the foreshore
#WeAreFigures
Liz being lifted off the foreshore at the end of a making session
The end of a making session
The end of a making session
The making session is over and the tide is in
The making session is over and the tide is in
Liz is lifted onto the foreshore for a nighttime making session
Resting on the way to the making space
A nighttime making session begins
A nighttime making session
A nighttime making session
A nighttime making session
A nighttime making session
A nighttime making session
Figures on the foreshore
A nighttime audience
Figure on the foreshore
At the end of the making session, the figures are collected ready for the exhibition
Over the days and nights of making, the figures amass in the exhibition shed
Over the days and nights of making, the figures continue to amass in the exhibition shed
Firing
Images: Matthew Fessey & Liz Crow
Gathering the figures ready to build the bonfire
Building the bonfire
The fire is lit
Reading the 650 narratives, which were streamed on the web in a six-hour group performance
The bonfire burns as the tide returns
The figures fired
The figures firing
Reading the 650 narratives, which were streamed on the web in a six-hour group performance
The figures fired
The figures firing
The figures fired
The tide comes in and the bonfire billows steam
The tide comes in
The tide comes in
Reading the 650 narratives, which were streamed on the web in a six-hour group performance
The bonfire billows steam
The tide comes in
The figures, fired, burned and broken
The figures, fired, burned and broken
The figures, fired, burned and broken
Milling
Images: Matthew Fessey
Our milling site
Liz prepares the figures for milling
The milling machine
The figures are prepared
The figures are prepared
Liz sifts through and prepares the figures
The figures before milling begins
The figures before milling begins
Liz hands over the next group of figures to be milled
The milling machine hopper
The milling machining ejects the figures
The milled figures are ejected from the machine
Liz looks on as each group of figures is taken to the milling machine
The milling machine spews out the crushed figures
The figures are ejected in small lots of fragments
Liz looks on as the last figures are loaded into the milling machine
Liz looks on as the figures are milled
The milling machine ejects the last few figures
The last few figures are ejected from the milling machine
Liz looks on with the dust from the milling machine filling the air
Scattering
Images: Matthew Fessey
The water at Portishead Marina
Heading out of the marina lock
Coastline at Portishead
Coastline at Portishead
Setting sail from Portishead
Coastline at Portishead
Coastline at Portishead
International distress flags
The boat’s tiller
Liz looks out to sea in preparation for the scattering
Compass
The scattering begins near to the firing site at Ladye Bay, Clevedon
The sea
Liz scoops the remains of the figures ready for scattering
Liz takes a moment before scattering each handful
As the remains of the figures are scattered, dust blows on the wind
The pier at Clevedon – the mid point of the journey
The remains of the figures are scattered
The remains of the figures are scattered
The remains of the figures are scattered
Liz’s hand
The scattering is complete. Liz sits contemplating the end of the scattering
