the kerbstone from China is now in place.

china stone

Five days before Cabot Circus opened to the public [25th Sept 08] the granite kerbstone reached its final destination and was installed in Penn Street at the entrance to the new centre. It is bizare for me to stand on the stone and remember the landscape it once was part of in the heat and humidity of South East China. For those who are interested the text on the stone in Chinese is the title of the work - A weight of stone carried from China for you - The other texts are the location - the quarry where the stone came from, the date it was quarried and stone type as it is refered to in China.

video clip from china

The China kerbstone has been on a detour to be included in an exhibtion at the Jerwood Space. As well as the stone a video clip of the journey was shown on a mobile phone placed on the trolley. The kerbstone id due to be installed in bristol early this summer.

I thought spending six nights ans seven days on a train would be a painful experience but in fact it was fantastic. The train crosses Northern China, Siberia and Russia at such a leasurely speed that the landscape unfolds with an unassuming drama just beyond the glass. I spent much of my time trying to draw the vanishing horizon lines on the train window with a marker pen. It is only now that I am back that I am able to see video clips of some of that.

China stone diary

I never knew getting onto a ferry could be such hard work, but pushing 150kgs of granite up the walking ramp onto the ship nearly killed me. The trolley is also on its last legs. The steel is bent and almost in two pieces just above the wheels. almost back

China stone diary

Moscow in the rain. Today I have been walking the city with the stone. Tonight I get another train - two days and nights to Cologne.

China stone diary

The trains progress through Siberia is slow, but the journey is never boring. I think because you know you are on the train for a week, you just settle into the rhythm. The resturant car now only serves Russian food and I am getting very used to Borscht and over the days I have made a few friends of other passengers. Every few hours the train reaches a station where it might stop for half an hour. It is a chance to go for a walk or buy some food. After the experience of the customs these last few days have been a joy. My next worry is Moscow. I arrive at a different station from where I will leave and I have a couple of days wait. The stone, trolley and I will be doing some walking!

China stone diary

At 4am this morning we reached the Chinese border, a town called Manzhouli. Gradually we made our way through a kind of no-mans-land before reaching the Russian side. After 36 hours on the train I had begun to relax and I had no idea what a horrendous day was ahead. It began with the Russian border guards boarding the train to check our papers. Although I had letters from Stonepave, Dawa Stone and Bristol Alliance explaining my work and giving a value for the stone, it was not enough to satisfy the customs officials. They insisted I take the stone off the train and to their offices. Much easier said then done! The stone weighs 150kgs and there was no station platform. That meant manhandling the stone down the train corridor before lifting it down about 7 ft from the train to the ground. Completely impossible on my own! Eventually I managed to find two Russian students on the train who helped me. The began 5 hours of following custom officials from one office to another. Once again I struch lucky when I met a young Russian border guard, Sergi, who spoke very good English and tried to help steer me through the complexities of Russian officialdom. He was a great help, but not enough to prevent me being ripped off! With Sergi's help I filled out the paperwork. I was then told that customs understood the stone had no value, but it would take one day to process. If I wanted to wait they would do it, but it would mean missing my train. I could wait for a week for another train, or I could pay! A 'customs official' then escorted me to a bank in town where I could use my card for cash. I handed him the equivalent of £100 and without any more forms, I found myself back on the train! What a long day - the train had hardly left the station and I was ready to sleep.

China stone diary

The Beijing - Moscow train I took goes around Mongolia before meeting the Vladivostock - Moscow line. It then goes right across Siberia. My First morning on the train was a chance to look around. The train is old an never travels at more then about 60kms. I am in a 2 person compartment on my own as I have had to pay for a birth for the stone. At the end of the carriage there is a very basic toilet with cold water to wash and further down the train a resturant which until we cross the border, serves Chinese food only. Most people on thr train seem to be Chinese, although there are a few Russians and one or two back - packers.

China stone diary

What an amazing day, which could so easily been a disaster! The train for Moscow was due to leave from Beijing at 11.30pm tonight, so I had the whole day to spend in the city. Leah, who works for Stonepave put me in touch with a friend of hers in Beijing, who very kindly gave up her day to show me around the city. She also said she would help me at the railway station. To my great surprise to two drivers who brought me from Xiamen also came to help me onto the train. I had no idea how much I would need their help. We arrived at Beijing railway station in the pouring rain and I was in for a shock. The station was packed, the noise was imense and there was not a single sign I could read. Mr Xue, all 5ft4" of him, but as strong as an ox, pushed the stone on its trolley into the station, up escalators, along corridors, down stairways through crowds of people and eventually manhandled it onto the train. The trolley was worse for the experience, but without him to move the stone and Sarah to find out where to go, I think I would have ended up in Beijing forever. When the train finally rolled out of the station I was an emotional wreck. Foolishly I thought things would now be plain sailing for six days and six nights to Moscow, but I could not have been more wrong.

China stone diary

Another service station, our last morning. We should arrive in Beijing by early afternoon. Before I say goodbye to my drivers I wanted a photograph.

China stone diary

a

Another very hot and steamy day and today we begin the drive from Xiamen to Beijing. The journey by road will take two days and two nights. There are two drivers, neither of whom speak any English. They will take turns driving so that we can make the trip non-stop. Our first night on the road was very dramatic as we drove through a huge electric storm with the whole skyline or steep sided mountains being thrown into light with each flash. With no English my two drivers could not be nicer, helping me navigate my way through the self service meals at our stops, and making sure I am comfortable on the road.

China stone diary

The kerbstone was taken to another factory today where the text is going to be put onto the surface. In Chinese it will say 'a weight of stone carried from China for you' It will aslo have the code for the stone type - G654 and the date cut into the surface. Candy arranged all this again and by the end of the day the kerbstone had been wrapped and packed ready for the journey home.

China stone diary

This morning we met Rayliegh who has been arranging the cutting at the factory to make my kerbstone. Once again the factory was at least a two hour drive in the same direction. What is amazing however, was the huge scale of quarrying going on in the area. Everywhere you look there is stone in different stages of preparation. Every truck seems to be moving stone, every available piece of ground, covered with blocks of the stuff.

The factory we stopped at was like very many we had seen along the road, but once inside I was surprised by how organised it appeared to be. Under an expansive roofed building with open sides, areas were separated off for different processes. At one end of the building, massive blocks of stone were gradually being hoisted onto the saw beds – including eventually the granite block we brought down the mountainside to cut my kerbstone from. Looking towards the other end of the building I could see many of the finished products. This was not the kind of sweat shop image I imagined, but something far more efficient with almost everyone I saw wearing safety gear.

Talking to Kevin on the way back to the hotel he told me that being a British company and a prime market for Chinese stone, they could insist on very high safety standards throughout the process and on all staff being of legal working age. Another reason why he and his staff visit the quarries and factories on such a regular basis.

Destination- Bristol – n51-27-466
W002-35-052

China stone diary

Karaoke! Never again.

China stone diary

Quarry – n24-40-111
E117-50-403
At 8am we were met by Candy from the Dawa Stone Company. She has made the arrangements locally to document my kerbstone being cut from the quarry face. We began by driving for perhaps two hours heading inland. That makes it sound as if we travelled a great distance, but with the roads in places being little more then riverbeds and mountain paths, were probably no more than 50 miles from Xiamen. Eventually we began driving up a steep mountain road through a tropical landscape of banana plants and green lakes. My first big surprise was that the quarry was not the hole in the ground I expected, but a natural granite outcrop on the top of a mountain. We had to walk the last part in heat it would be hard to describe. Simply stepping out of the car was enough without a half hour hike. Unbelievably Candy had managed to get permission for me to film the quarrying of the kerbstone. I don’t remember being so exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel, but what a worthwhile day.

China stone diary

After a very short hop from Hong Kong, perhaps 40mins, we are in Xiamen. It is dark and very late, but you cannot escape the immense humidity and the sounds and smells of an almost tropical landscape. First thing tomorrow morning we go to the quarry?

China stone diary

I met Kevin Hives [Stonepave] at Heathrow airport who is accompanying me to China. We are flying via Hong Kong to Xiamen and with the time difference should arrive late at night on the 21st. Kevin has made arrangements to go to the quarry where my stone is being cut, but that is the most difficult part to plan. The quarries are all owned and run by the Chinese government, so it is very much out of his hands. I am not quite sure what to expect, but as we wait for the plane to take off I am filled with anticipation.