“What is It?” – How Public Art Engages New Audiences

By Alex Day
Modern and Contemporary Art Trainee

Norwich Castle staff watch as Nicola Turner works on her sculpture. Image: Daniel Bokenham

On 20^th May 2023, I supported textile installation artist Nicola Turner on her piece for the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Turner was one of six artists to contribute a site-specific work as part of the Norwich Art Path, which was a walk that spanned a route between Norwich Castle, the University of East Anglia Campus and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. I was on hand to help with anything Nicola may have needed with the install, and Daniel (fellow trainee and all-round champ) was there to create a time-lapse video to record the installation process. You can view the full time-lapse video here.

The chosen installation site was a gatehouse based at the bottom of the Castle’s bridge, and Nicola quickly got to work placing her incredible textile pieces around the tallest point, using one of the highest stepladders I’d ever seen. Turner re-uses her sculpture bases, which are made from natural materials such as horsehair and wool, so they are malleable and can transform into different pieces with each use and placement. They are mouldable, can be tied in knots or twisted around each other – some even have wire in them so they almost appear living when bent in the right way.

Nicola Turner works at height with support from her husband, Alf. Image: Alex Day

The initial limestone of the castle is pale in colour, which contrasted with the black and grey shades of Nicola’s sculpture. About an hour in, news crews and photographers began arriving to gather footage of the installation and interview Nicola and other contributors to the project. This also raised the interest of passers-by, who began to approach me and ask questions. The overarching question was: What is it?

Participants of the Norwich Art Path listen to Nicola talk about her work. Image: Alex Day

There were two young people who couldn’t have been older than 10, who came and spoke to Nicola and confidently took a seat on the squishy flesh of the sculpture while she spoke to them. As they walked away, I heard one of them say to the other “That’s so cool!”

I saw so many people start to walk by absentmindedly and then suddenly stop to look up at the installation and ask a question to either me or Nicola. A member of museum staff walked down the bridge and did a great double take, followed by a gasp.

Towards the end of the day, two members of Castle Mall security approached me and asked: “What’s this all about then?” When I explained, they seemed genuinely interested, and even stuck around to watch some of the de-install. A young boy ran past the installation and poked it a few times with a stick. There was a puppy, who excitedly had a good sniff. A young couple walked past and stayed to watch Nicola work for around 15 minutes, squinting in the sun and gazing up at her whilst she attached parts of the sculpture to the wall.

A close up of Nicola Turner’s finished piece on the Norwich Castle Gatehouse. Image: Alex Day

The incredible thing about public and site-specific art is the coincidence of it all. When you walk into an art gallery, you have a set plan of action – an intention to see art and encounter it in a certain way. The chance quality of installations like this is they reach a different type of audience in an unassuming way. Many of the people who engaged with Nicola’s work that day hadn’t planned to see it – it just happened to be there. They saw it coincidentally, and people were able to chat to her about it at the time too. You can’t often do that with a sculpture in a gallery. And you certainly can’t poke them with sticks, either.