Shapling is a sculpture for Kielder Waterside that functions both as an orientation point and utility store screen at Kielder Waterside.
Fabricated from self-weathering steel (the same material used to make The Angel of the North), during the day Shapling presents a hard, rugged feel but in the evening, in the its softer side emerges as a hidden lighting system transforms it into a mosaic of colour changing squares.
What 3 Words: ocean.warnings.frown
Shapling is within Kielder Waterside, on the edge of the lodges accommodation area to the south of the play area within the main visitor activity zone. After parking, walking back a short distance along the entrance road and take the uphill road on the left.
Within the Kielder Waterside area, Tethered Cloud, Mapping Minigolf, Shadow, and Human Burrow are within a short walk. A 20 minute stroll east along the Lakeside Way will bring you to Freya’s Cabin.
Shapling’s industrial look and materials make reference to the people who first planted the forest, many of whom came from the mining communities and shipyards of North East England.
Its name, ‘Shapling’, evokes ideas of metamorphosis and change; the re-direction of manual skills that enabled Kielder's constantly evolving living landscape to be created.
Simon’s work encompasses light, narrative, engagement and object/spatial design and is tightly bound to the spaces it creates and inhabits. For more information, visit Simon Watkinson