Yesterday
2022
The idea behind this artwork is to create a sense of looking into the past.
It takes its starting point from the image of tree rings. Everybody knows a tree ring represents one year. The asked themselves, "What would happen if we cut a section of an oak trunk, set it on its side and were able to push the rings back with our hand?"
What happens is a shape is produced that looks from the outside a bit like an old bellows camera. From the inside, a tunnel is created that becomes deeper towards the centre - deeper the further back in time one goes, as though one is literally looking 'into the past.'
The removal of the central few rings creates an aperture that draws the eye down into the tree rings and through into what lies beyond pointing down the bridle way towards Langley Green.
This sculpture can be found at the southern end of the Metcalf Way Linear Park in Zone 1 (Yellow Zone)
The overall design for the site is based on the concept of time and the phrasing suggested by ‘Yesterday’s journey, tomorrow’s path, and a pause for today’. The public artworks at either end are based on the “lives of an oak” reflective of the presence of oak trees around the site.
The artist, Stephen Broadbent, conceives the site as a journey through space and time. With two “gateway” art works at either end – one representing the past (Yesterday) and another representing the future (Tomorrow). As you walk between the two you experience the present (Today) represented by the seating and the people themselves living and resting in the moment.
Artist: Stephen Broadbent
Having first started in nearby Lowfield Heath in the 1800s, C.T. Overtons & Sons moved to “Beecroft” in County Oak. They were bee breeders and manufacturers of bee keeping appliances until 1957 when the property was compulsory purchased by the New Town development corporation.
