The History Pavement, St John’s Churchyard, Southwark

Brief: ‘…in collaboration with the local primary school, illustrate within the paving the richness of the history of this urban open space and create an engaging and interactive work of art’.

Stainless steel, York sandstone, Caithness flagstone, concrete and turf, 2004
h.630cm, w.630cm.

Commissioned as part of the redevelopment of this small recreation ground near Tower Bridge in the heart of London, Breeze researched quotations from the site’s eventful history and created this pavement as a historical metaphor and word game. The sentences, spanning five centuries and carved in different relevant styles and on different stones, were then ‘sliced’ up and relaid like reclaimed material. With effort the history can be ‘rediscovered’ by being pieced back together. Some of the stones are ‘missing’ and can be found at the entrances to the park. In addition, a word-search compiled by the local primary school of words chosen by the children to reflect their feelings for the park is inlaid into the stones, enhancing the pavement’s abstract nature.