Full description

Just to the north of Anthony Gormley's sculptures on Crosby beach is what locals know as the Brick Beach. Here, the rubble of the Blitz on Liverpool was deposited to act as a defence against coastal erosion. For many years I have walked that beach, picking up curiously gnarled pieces of timber. At first I thought they were driftwood, etched into sculptural shapes by the sea, but I came to realise that they were being revealed by the wind and sea from the war rubble I was walking on. It dawned on me that these weren't just bits of wood, these wormeaten pieces of door frame and floorboard, some showing the marks of fire, were part of the history of my home town. I decided to give these beautiful historical remnants of the bombed homes of past Liverpudlians a new lease of life as coat racks. Each has been dried, cleaned up (but not too much), planed flat at the back, treated with preservative, and adorned with hand carved hooks from other reclaimed hardwoods. This was the very first piece of timber I picked up off the Brick Beach, thinking it to be driftwood at the time. I loved the way that the growth rings in the pine had eroded to create strata along the edge of the wood. My first few attempts at coat racks involved embedding pegs, but I came to realise that the shapes I wanted to carve required the grain running up and down. Nonetheless I think the scroll shapes of the pegs still have a rustic charm. Waxed finish, L 950 mm x H 130 mm x D 65 mm.