Synchronicity
A permanent marble sculpture commission for the Castle Bailey Quad at St Peter’s College in Oxford
“Synchronicity is an ever-present reality for those who have eyes to see.”
the meaningful coincidence
The way in which life organizes itself can be observed and categorized in multiple ways. Whether mysterious, miraculous, unresolved, deterministic or even chaotic, all will depend on our personal and collective vision, belief system, education or experience. This sculpture came to exist as an expression of one of the most astonishing synchronistic event ever to occur to me. Something that reinforces the idea of connection that shapes my understanding of existence.
It all started during the summer of 2022, on a weekend day spent with family in central Oxford. Sometime during the afternoon, when we were venturing through Bulwarks Lane on our way to the Worcester Street Car Park, I received a phone call. The lane dissects Saint Peter’s College headquarters having at both sides multiple college buildings and grounds. It was partially under conversion as the architectural works to deliver the two new student residency buildings in the successive months - today the Castle Bailey Quad - were about to start.
The call was related to a sculpture show I was having on at the time. The curator my friend Anna, wanted to share with me the prospect of a potential sale from a reputed collector. It was a bustling summer day with plenty of activity in the streets, students and tourists enjoying the good weather in one of the busiest areas of town, and I had to find a quiet spot to find refuge and be able to hold a coherent conversation. My phone on top of that, had microphone damage and I had to raise my voice in order to be heard.
The very narrow medieval lane -at places no wider than 1,5m- holds its own character as it constituted part of the old Castle protective threshold and walls. Today it is zigzagged shortcut connecting the Westgate shopping centre, Worcester Street and the Gloucester Green station.
So there I was, almost shouting in excitement under the prospect of an important outcome for the show, and in order to be heard had stopped at someone’s back door for the 5 minutes or so that the conversation lasted. Once it was over we continued with our walk to collect the car and drive my family to join the rest for their trip back to London.
When we said good bye, still stirred by the visit and the conversation, I sat on my car to set route and checked my phone. Who would have guessed the message I was going to find in my inbox. Readed like this:
‘Eccentric approach from someone seeking to commission a sculpture’
Dear Jordi Raga, if you are the Spanish sculptor who has just been having a long telephone conversation about sculpture with someone called Anna beside a door on Bulwarks Lane in Oxford, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Head of St Peter's College Oxford and the curious thing is I was just considering where to look for a piece of public art for our new development when your phone conversation seemed to drift into our world through our front door!…If by any chance this happens to work out, it will certainly have had an entertaining start. Kind regards
J.B
I was shocked, what are the chances for something like this to happen?. Certainly -I thought- I must take this project very seriously and do all what’s in my hand to explore the idea further, as something substantial will come out of it.
From the many synchronistic events present in my life, this was one the most astonishing. Where I felt that a meaningful pattern was embedded in reality. Certainly without synchronicity as a factor none of it would have happened. The law of attraction seems to make events collide in a single spacetime event, as Carl Jung defined it, it is ‘an ever-present reality for those who have eyes to see’.
idea Conception: A collaborative Process
The following months continued celebrating the meaningful coincidence with Judith, head of the College and exchanging ideas about the base concepts for the sculpture to be created. We agreed to take things a step at a time starting from a conceptual approximation with hand sketches to draw the potential directions of the commission.
The two-stranded idea emerged from what was described by Judith as an “upward inspiration”
The location spot for the sculpture was set at a new developed Courtyard adjacent to Bulwarks lane, only a few meters away from where the synchronistic event took place. The College having links to a Greek family of donors who sponsored the project, decided to name the courtyard as ‘Synomilia Court’. Which is another word in resonance with synchronicity, sharing the Greek root ‘syn’ -together, jointly- and 'omilia’ -as discourse or talk- meaning ‘The Conversation Court’. The ethos is to celebrate and stimulate conversation, encouraging students and visitors to engage in a dialog stimulated with the sculpture and the surrounding architecture. Certainly the story behind grants a meaningful base for the exchange of ideas.
The following step, was to recreate the potential forms, proportions and scale through a 3D model within the architectural space. Some visualizations helped understanding and agreeing the concept.
Model fabrication
Once the design and requirements where finally met by all parts, I set to produce manually a mini-model of the sculpture in the same material -white marble- that was later to be used for the real sculpture. First I carved a small version of the two blocks containing the two strands and then carved out the two final forms within.
Dividing the block
Later when the proportions were satisfactory and the geometry clear, I set to recreate the containing blocks geometry by splitting the primary marble block in a diagonal cut. The wire saw cutting was conducted by the local Stoneworld LTD company in Oxfordshire.
Fabrication: Hand carving of the sculpture
Some months later after all the preparations, communication and validation from the College, I had the two resulting blocks delivered to my studio in Oxfordshire, and set to start the manual carving of Synchronicity. It was about the right time to do so.
Hidden treasures
Quartz crystals are sometimes found in certain marble types. But I never had the chance to find one core this big and pure before. They grow as a result of the slow metamorphic transformation, under great temperature and pressure conditions.
Hand carving implies the use of angle grinders, routers, drills, sanders and also a special chainsaw to help extracting clean blocks . This is a more sustainable way to remove material as it allows to save large off-cuts for later use. Here I even managed to save the large quartz crystal for something special later in the future.
Fixing sculpture and base
When mostly of the shapes were carved, it was time to secure the two marble strands to their base. I designed and manufactured two long stainless steel dowels and sleeves to make the mounting practical during the installation process. The need for these is always there for outdoor sculpture subject to the public domain.
Transport
Finally the sculpture was completed and the moment came to arrange delivery to St Peter’s College. It was a freezing morning at the outset of winter. The best to feel the spark of action under a clear sky with the best help for the job. The logistics of installation are another interesting side of the sculptor’s life, specially the of work I do. Strapping, moving, tilting and preparing the installation strategy are key and often drive to further thinking routes, specially when working with other professionals.
Installation
It took three days in total including delivery day. The intricate narrow passages through St Peter’s College made it complicated to access the new Synomilia Court location. Fortunately the maintenance team was there to make the difference, helping drag all the sculpture parts and gear to the final spot, setting up the gantry crane safely in place and mounting the set together to place it into its final place.
cool down (oN ICE)
Sometimes installations require that extra bit of creativity to resolve unresolved problems. Here, having found the courtyard’s architecture an obstacle to mount the gantry and be able to remove the trolley under, I remembered old stories from my time in Italy, of stone setting on ice cubes to help remove the straps on inaccessible places. But never I had the chance nor the need to use ice before as I did here. Hoping this time that the stacking of ice cube bags would hold the +1500kgs of weight and melt regularly until the sculpture touched ground.
Completion
So much exciting hard work, joint efforts and good heart from all those involved resulted in this meaningful sculpture. Hopefully the story does not end here and successive synchronistic events will spark in connection to this wonderful adventure.
White Marble and limestone; H 180cm / W 110cm / D 110cm. Synomilia Courtyard, Castle Quay. Oxford, UK 2024.
Sculpture visible to the public adjacent to Bulwarks Lane.