NEW WATER SCULPTURE FOR CATHEDRAL - Archived

A William Pye water sculpture has been installed in Salisbury Cathedral on loan until Pentecost (June 6th) 2006. The water sculpture will be used as a font.

The water sculpture is titled Sibirica Minor II. Designed in 2003, it spent 6 months last year at Tate Britain in London as part of the 'Art in the Garden' exhibition and will be in Salisbury Cathedral for the next year. The sculptural composition consists of a green bronze vessel set upon a plinth clad in hardwood within which is the reservoir that holds half a cubic metre of water. Currently the only one of his sculptures in a cathedral, William Pye said: 'The sculpture captures two states of water in one piece, contrasting its still reflective quality with the more animated overflowing spouts at each of the four corners. William Pye went on to say: 'The design was conceived with the cathedral in mind, its cruciform shape marking the intersection at the North Crossing within the nave.' This year the smooth clear streams of water express more overtly the life giving qualities of flowing water than previous sculptures sited in the cathedral.

The Dean and Chapter of Salisbury Cathedral have been considering a new font for Cathedral for the last few years. Canon Mark Bonney, the Cathedral Treasurer, spoke of his view on the importance of the font in Cathedral Life. “The font proclaims in tangible terms the importance of Baptism. Ecumenically and liturgically we have rediscovered the wonder of the grace and privilege given us in Baptism. However, very often our fonts and the layout of our church buildings completely fail to express what we say in words. Rather than the font being a constant reminder of the abundant grace of God given us in Baptism, we find fonts tucked away in corners and covered up. The interior arrangements in the cathedral speak of our beliefs and for this reason it is important that the centrality of our baptismal theology is expressed by the kind of font we have.”

The font was used for the first time at the 5am Easter Dawn Liturgy on Sunday, March 27th for three baptisms.