Grinders Hill is a walkway between the Site Gallery and the Workstation in the
Cultural
Quarter of Sheffield. I won a competition organised by Sheffield City Council to produce an artwork for one side of the
walkway. The tall buildings made the area very dark and threatening so I decided to use polished stainless steel to reflect
as much light as possible. From some angles the building looks almost invisible.
The work is made from 31 etched sheets of 2.4m by 1.2m bright annealed stainless steel. The designs reflect the use of
the building, depicting the recording studios, video editing and tape copying facilities. Images were dry etched onto the
steel which was then sprayed with a thick deposit of the screen printing ink used to make traffic signs. This ensured a very
permanent finish to the work.
This project broke new ground in that I developed a cost effective way of getting the ink permanently onto steel, a method
which I have not seen used elsewhere. I worked very closely with contractors to ensure that it was installed with the delicate
surface of the panels intact. I negotiated with the council, the occupants of the building and the sub contractors.
