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Field Visit
Date 28 September 2002
Event ID 615941
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/615941
Epitaph for the Elm by Tim Stead.
Eleven slices of elm, taken vertically from a 200 year-old dead tree, are held vertically in a row by steel plates and two lines of tensioned steel wire. These wires travel horizontally between the third and ninth slices, and angle down to the ground in front of the first slice and behind the last one. The slices vary in shape since they follow the tree's form with forked branches, and vary in height from c.9ft H to c.15ft H. The slices are spaced c.2.5m apart.
The title stone, carved by Ian Hamilton Finlay, is positioned to the front left at the lochan end of the sculpture.
Inscriptions: On separate title stone (incised letters):
EPITAPH / FOR THE ELM / TIM STEAD / 1952-2000
The sculpture was commissioned by the former Edinburgh District Council and funded from the budget for the Gyle Shopping Centre project. The original agreement required the head tenant, Marks & Spencer, to take responsibility for the erection of the sculpture. Instead Marks & Spencer chose to pay the sum of £20,000 into a suspense account for the sculpture to be erected by the Council as part of some other project. The sculpture was then stored at the Inch Nursery. In November 2001, Economic Development Investment (EDI) approached the Council asking permission to erect the sculpture at Edinburgh Park, at their expense, in memory of Tim Stead who had died. The sculpture was donated on the basis that it would be a fitting memorial to Tim Stead.
Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0854)
