Tag Archives: Natural World

Tipping’s Tiny Zoo, Jacob’s Ladder, Ramsgate.

Red Deer on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019

 

Red Deer on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

Jacob’s Ladder is a Grade II Listed flight of stone steps. Built in 1826 by John Shaw.  Dog-leg stairs with three flights of steps faced with ashlar and built between flanking towers with rounded fronts of ashlar, each flight of steps with wide central pilaster; centre landings. Iron balustrade. The present stair replaces an earlier wooden flight of c.1750, 100 yards to the east’. Historic England.

Red Deer, Cervus elaphus with local flora.

 

Red Deer on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Red Deer on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Red Deer on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Small Antelope on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Red Deer with small Antelope on Jacob’s Ladder, Military Road, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

Stumped: Elephants on Dumpton Park Drive – Animal Thanet 2019

Stumped: Elephant herd marooned on Dumpton Park Drive

These images are part of the ongoing Animal Thanet project and installation / performance, which considers & reflects wider concerns I have for the  natural world, particularly focussed on the lives of its wild animals, conservation, loss of habitat, diminishing numbers, poaching, trophy hunting, extinction and callous exploitation, which holds a mirror to our humanity. We may soon only have plastic versions of our wild neighbours to play with. The last decade has witnessed the slow & horrible realisation that our negative impact on the planet and particularly our plastic pollution of almost every environment, is a real-time catastrophe for the world around us. 

A recently removed tree provides a stump as a refuge and island platform for these Elephants marooned above the pavement on Dumpton Park Drive. Habitat loss is a major issue in Elephant conservation. Human population growth means encroachment on wildlife. Loss of trees and forests leaves space for wildlife diminished and in smaller and smaller pockets or ‘island’ reserves. EleAid 

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Elephant herd marooned on a tree stump. Dumpton Park Drive, Ramsgate. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – Animal Thanet 2019

A walk from Herne Bay to Birchington at Low Tide with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant – February 2019

These images are part of the ongoing Animal Thanet project and installation / performance, which considers & reflects wider concerns I have for the  natural world, particularly focussed on the lives of its wild animals, conservation, loss of habitat, diminishing numbers, poaching, trophy hunting, extinction and callous exploitation, which holds a mirror to our humanity. We may soon only have plastic versions of our wild neighbours to play with. The last decade has witnessed the slow & horrible realisation that our negative impact on the planet and particularly our plastic pollution of almost every environment, is a real-time catastrophe for the world around us. 

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Oryx and an Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Above: Arabian Oryx – Oryx leucoryx at Herne Bay

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Oryx and an Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Above: African Elephant – L. africana at Herne Bay

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Oryx and an Elephant. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Oryx and an Elephant. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Views towards Reculver.

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Oryx and an Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above & Below: Oryx at Minnis Bay

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Oryx and an Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Above & Below: Small tidal sea bathing pool at Minnis Bay

 

 

Herne Bay to Birchington – A walk with two Arabian Oryx and an African Elephant at low tide. Animal Thanet 2019. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Dorset County Hospital – the new Cancer Unit Glazing Artwork

Image: Draft artwork with re-imagined stones by Christopher Tipping 2018

I have been commissioned to create artwork to be digitally printed onto optically clear vinyl for the external glazing of the new Cancer Unit at Dorset County Hospital. Dorset’s pioneering new cancer unit is under construction and is due to be delivered in 2018. It is being built and operated jointly by Poole and Dorset HospitalsMy approach has been framed by a research trip I made back in June 2008 to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and to Dorchester Museums Archive Collections and the Natural History Museum in London.

Image: Christopher Tipping- Jurassic Coast Dorset 2008
Image: Christopher Tipping- Display Box of Microfossils, Dorset County Museum 2008
Image: Found objects and natural abstractions for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping

Ten years ago I created artwork for wayfinding and inlaid bespoke floor coverings for the corridors of the main hospital buildings and also for Maiden Castle House, which provides Psychiatric Services for the Trust. This original body of work, completed in 2010 was considered a resonant starting point for this new project in 2018 and has been instrumental in underpinning the artwork created for the Cancer Unit.

Alex Coulter, former Arts Manager, Arts in Hospital writing in 2008 said –

‘The artist, Chris Tipping, researched and recorded geological structures, fossils and land forms along the Jurassic coast as the basis for his designs. He made drawings on the coast and in Dorset County Museum’s collections and talked to geologists based at Southampton University to help inform his ideas.  Chris was interested in the idea that the floors in the hospital could be interpreted as the layers or strata of the coast with fossil like patterns embedded in them and fragments and elements emerging where different layers meet. They are inlaid into the floor at key areas such as lift thresholds and at the top of staircases to help with wayfinding while smaller elements break up long expanses of corridor. It was Chris’s idea to curve the edges of the flooring and to reveal sections of designs rather as you might see a fragment in the cliff. The technology used is sophisticated with laser cutting creating elements which fit together with no need for sealant in-between. His designs enliven what would otherwise be vast expanses of plain flooring and contribute to making the hospital environment more stimulating and appealing for patients – a healing environment’.

 

The following text was taken from the 2018 project brief by Alex Murdin, Arts Manager, Arts in Hospital, at Dorset County Hospital.

‘Initial consultation with patients and staff suggested that the theme of the Cancer Unit artworks should evolve around nature and light, “Letting in the Light”. Medical and psychological evidence is strong that natural images, textures, patterns and light are all beneficial for wellbeing and recovery . Contact with Nature has been reported to have psychological benefits by reducing stress, improving attention, by having a positive effect on mental restoration, and by coping with attention deficits.

Natural light is important to healing and wellbeing and patients with views of open spaces get better faster. As the views from the new Cancer Unit will be limited to other hospital buildings and urban Dorchester, art can provide an alternative view for patients through translucent imagery of landscape and natural forms on windows. The window vinyls must in any case screen off views of the interior from outside by passers-by and occupiers of adjacent buildings, as necessary for patient’s actual and perceived privacy and confidentiality without the need for blinds and the accompanying loss of light’.

Dorset’s pioneering new cancer unit is under construction and due to be delivered in 2018 is being built and operated jointly by Poole and Dorset Hospitals. It will deliver world class health care for our local communities. The project will develop cancer facilities for patients all across Dorset and bring radiotherapy services to Dorchester for the first time. The new facilities will be life-changing, particularly for people who have previously had to travel long distances for radiotherapy services in Poole.

The unit will serve people of all ages, who have been diagnosed with cancer as well as their families. Patients who use this service are likely to be distressed and for some people, they may be living with a terminal diagnosis. The unit will be home to new linear accelerators (LINAC) – the device most commonly used for external beam radiation treatments for patients with cancer. It will be a multi-functional space offering life changing radiotherapy, consulting rooms and counselling rooms. The unit will also be used by support groups. The unit is being funded Dorset County Hospital Charity, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (DCHFT), Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and with a major legacy from the photographer Robert White, a local man who died from cancer in 2015′. 

Image: Draft Artwork for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping
Image: Draft Artwork – Found & re-imagined stones for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping
Image: Draft artwork for Dorset County Hospital Cancer Unit by Christopher Tipping

 

 

Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk

‘Animal Thanet’ exists as a series of images which examine our relationship with the natural world and environment through the use of plastic animals placed in a variety of habitats & scenarios in and around Ramsgate & the Isle of Thanet in Kent.

One of my first recollections as a child was of having a farm with plastic animals. I loved it. I collected these animals throughout my childhood and developed a strong affinity with the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it. When I got married and had a family and child of my own, I started collecting again – particularly after we moved to Ramsgate, Kent – always under the pretence that they were for my daughter Nell ! Living by the coast was like revisiting childhood.

My wider concerns for the  natural world, is particularly focussed on the lives of its wild animals. Loss of habitat, diminishing numbers, extinction and callous exploitation hold a mirror to our humanity. We may soon only have plastic versions of our wild neighbours to play with.

This set of images was made on Ramsgate Main Sands and the coastal walk at low tide between Ramsgate and Broadstairs.

Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet - Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping
Animal Thanet – Elephant Walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs. Image: Christopher Tipping