A miniature event for Bonfire Night 2003 devised primarily to test a method of firing a melting kiln. The impetus to conduct this project derived from a passion about firing sculptures internally using wood. This had installed in me a child like inquisitiveness manifested in imaginings of many 'what would happen if' scenarios. I wanted to break one of the accepted norms of firing kilns that always saw wood firers reach the point of vitrifying their pots but never purposefully go beyond that vitrification temperature. Going beyond vitrification would of course leads to the destruction through melting and eventual collapse of the kiln. Most kilns usually slowly return back to room temperature having fulfilled their purpose to fire pots or otherwise. In Big Ben meltdown the kiln, resembling St Stephens Tower in London's Parliament would be fired to vitrification as usual but then the stoking of the fire would continue until it began to melt and lose its shape. Normally seen as a disaster for wood-firers the process of melting the kiln conjured an interesting analogy with the concept of Entropy - the process of decay that will in theory eventually lead all things to lose their form and integration. This analogical connection drew further significance through the configuration of the kiln in the form of a specific building. All kilns have a potential to melt. Just as all buildings will eventually fall and return to the earth. Awareness of the vulnerability of buildings especially those of national significance has increased dramatically since 9/11. This awareness has led me to use the melting kiln to play out this potential scenario. For the melting building kiln as an event embodies not only the entrancing nature of but it also presents the idea of the institution being dissolved, melting from the inside from the core, from the base outwards to leave amongst ashes, burnt out institution.

Technique. The Kiln was built with donated local brick clay (thank you W.H. Collier Ltd) which I was told melts at 1060°C. Using photographs of St Stephens Tower I constructed the kiln in 5 sections to be stacked vertically. This meant I could transport each section separately to the kiln site. The kiln building was assembled the morning of the firing on top of a small brick firebox (although I have tried to move away from using fireboxes the internal space at the bottom of this towering kiln was not of sufficient size horizontally to build a fire that would be able to reach the temperature required of this kiln). The sculpture was then wrapped up with Insulation fabric secured with wire and a fire lit. The temperature was kept below 150°C for 5 hours then taken up slowly to 1000°C over the next 10 hours. In the evening music accompanied drinks for invited guests with traditional bonfire and Guy, sparklers and fireworks. The internal temperature of the kiln reached melting point nearer the base and continued on to 1120°C yet there appeared to be no movement. I had expected it to begin to lean as the structures supports lost their strength. Nothing was happening. I needed to see inside - perhaps only the surfaces inside were melting. I pulled off the insulation covers to reveal the form of the tower glowing white hot. Near the base as can be seen in the photo the four corners of the building were standing strong, but everything between had melted in shiny red globules of lava. It looked totally burnt out. If fired any further the whole thing might have collapsed.