FUTURE CITY

Ebbsfleet Landmark

Public Art Commission

Ebbsfleet, Kent
2007 - ongoing

Futurecity have curated the White Horse project, a 50m sculpture by Mark Wallinger, which has recently received planning consent from Gravesham Council.  The commission was won in 2008 by Mark Wallinger selected from a shortlist of five artists including Richard Deacon, Daniel Buren, Christopher Le Brun and Rachel Whiteread.

Mark Wallinger's proposal for an enormous white horse, 33 times life-size, will stand on Springhead, looking out over Ebbsfleet Valley and the Thames Estuary. The horse will be a faithfully accurate representation of a thoroughbred racehorse in all but its scale.

The ancient route Watling Street now the A2 runs adjacent to the site and as the main route into England from mainland Europe would have seen countless thousands of horses transporting man and his possessions over the centuries. The Thoroughbred was first developed during the 17th and 18th centuries in England, when native mares were crossbred with imported Arabian stallions. Every racehorse in the world is descended from these animals and the White Horse wears a bridle to signify that it has been domesticated and bred by man. Mark Wallinger has, for many years, explored the history of the horse and its link to man. The horse in Anglo-Saxon mythology is an extremely significant symbol. 'Horsa' - from which we derive the modern word 'horse' - was the semi-mythological leader of the Anglo-Saxons who landed near Ebbsfleet, on the Isle of Thanet in the 6th century and so the white horse became the symbol of Kent. In ancient times these figures would be made by revealing the underlying chalk and the sculpture connects visually to the more recent chalk quarry faces that define Ebbsfleet Valley.

Mark Wallinger is interested ideas about identity, nationality, and politics in his work. Horses have featured extensively in his work and he sees the racehorse as symbolic of British colonial and post-colonial history. He says about is winning proposal; "I like the fact that it will be rather uncanny in terms of its scale but that in the end it is simply a horse in a field".

Futurecity were appointed by the Project patrons, London & Continental Railways, Land Securities and Eurostar in 2007 to curate and project manage the commission. The ambitions of the project are to provide a high profile marker for Ebbsfleet Valley, the Graveham and Dartford Communities and the North Kent region that will help identify Ebbsfleet Valley and Ebbsfleet Valley International Station. The Landmark will be seen from the A2 where there are over 44 million car journeys every year. It will also be viewed by over 1 million train passengers using the Station and will be accessible on foot as part of the Springhead Park.

Futurecity appointed a selection panel of leading UK art professionals; Peter Murray, Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Madeleine Bessborough, Director of New Art Centre at roch Court, Simon Wallis, Director of the Hepworth in Wakefield and Victoria Pomery, Director of Turner Contemporary in Margate.

Futurecity were appointed by Land Securities to draw up a cultural masterplan for Ebbsfleet Valley.

To read about 'Landmark Link', the community engagement project which accompanied the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project, click on the link below

To read the press release announching the planning approval click here

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