The King of Installation

I can hear the giggles and groans from the team at the Henry Moore Foundation all the way from England with that blog title! The "King" in question is today's guest blogger James Copper, Sculpture Conservator at the Henry Moore Foundation. He's the second half of the dynamic duo I mentioned previously: the "relentlessly teasing co-worker" half. But despite being incorrigible, (and endlessly charming and entertaining), how can you not be impressed by a guy who has the energy to oversee the rigging of massive sculptures during the week yet still has the energy for a weekend junket to see Elvis's home, Graceland in the middle of it all? We all enjoyed working and laughing with James so much, and his background in bronze sculpting and fine art handling made him an indespensible resource in planning and installing our show. Here is James's guest blog post:

I have what you might call a great job, one that many covet, but one that was not really for me.

I was born only a few miles from where Henry Moore lived, in a then small ‘market town’, in the ‘60s. It was the nearest town to where my father’s family was from. Three generations of that family, including my eldest son and I were christened in the parish church in Much Hadham. Little knowing, being only a few weeks old at the time, that the 2 stone heads looking down from the church entrance at me, were by Moore! Nor was I aware that my Godfather, John Farnham, also a sculptor of considerable repute himself, was one of Moore’s assistants.

John (above), who had been at school with my father and was one of his best friends, also lived next door to Moore. As I was growing up I spent a great deal of time with him. He would take me with him visiting museums and galleries, as well as to many collectors’ homes, and to work with him during school holidays. Of course, during my childhood, this was normal; it meant relatively little to me. Whilst with John at work, I had free reign of Moore’s estate, and often used to meet Henry, surrounded by his monumental bronzes, which I used to climb on and slide down! At the time I was more interested in dinosaurs and Romans, I had no idea of the importance of Moore, or his sculpture. If I’d thought about what I was going to be when I grew up, it would have been a vet or something.

On leaving school I joined the Marines, but due to an awkwardly broken leg I had to leave, the military was no longer an option and I was not academic enough to become a vet. The only other thing I had enjoyed at school, and shown any promise in, was art, more specifically drawing and painting. So, to study painting and printmaking at art school it was. Despite having been exposed to sculpture my entire childhood it did not hold my imagination at the time, it was not for me!

During my college years I still spent time with my Godfather, John, and as time went on I began to show an interest in sculpture and to make some of my own. I no longer saw sculpture through a child’s eye, but with maturity and real interest. Unfortunately this interest came too late to see Moore still active on the estate, despite my continued visits to the foundation. I was, however, lucky enough to see him one last time, shortly before his death. He was at John’s home and he no longer knew me, as I had not known who he was when I was a child, but wow!

Moore (below) died while I was still studying, but I can still see his face smiling at me, from the back seat of the car, as I had last seen him.

Following my graduation, from the Kent Institute, I won a bursary, which enabled me to travel to the marble quarries at Quercetta, in Italy, where Moore had worked. On my return to England I managed to gain employment with another friend of John’s friends from the art world, at Momart, as an art technician. Whilst working here I was involved with installations and hangings of many well renowned artists, including Richard Serra, Anthony Caro, Frank Stella, as well as a very large scale show of Moore’s work at the Bagatelle Gardens in Paris. It was during this installation that I was first offered the chance to work for the Foundation, but it took 4 more years for this to come to fruition.

Eventually I was offered a role at the Foundation working alongside my Godfather John, and two other assistants to Moore, Malcolm Woodward and Michel Muller. It was a junior role, and sometimes I had to had to travel to the places the others weren’t keen to go to, or visit again… no matter, it was an opportunity I was not going to miss, what a fantastic job. They had all worked with Henry and they had a wealth of experience between them, I learned a great deal from them, and was able to travel the world.

Malcom Woodward (left) and James Copper (right) at Hoglands, Moore's home, 2007.

As the years passed I became more confident, we became more of a team and I was able to do more of the problem solving. The venues became more worldwide and the challenges became greater, both practically and politically. I was able to be more involved, to do the site visits and the project management of bigger and better shows, and gradually as the time came for the others to retire I have been able to take the reins. This is how I got to be doing one of the best jobs in the world!

I have installed Moore’s work all over the world and each time it is different. That’s what I love, the variety of problems to be solved; how do we install in a bog garden, a pond, a walled garden…? I consider it my job to find the solution, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the buzz and the thrill of solving it and seeing Moore’s work beautifully installed and sited.

The Atlanta Botanical Garden has been a very exciting project to work on, and what a challenge! From our initial site visit, through the installation and finally the many varied openings, the scope of work has never been more demanding and therefore rewarding.

James Copper, Laura Robinson, David Mitchinson at Moore in America grand opening, Atlanta

When we began to think about the show in Georgia there was still one third of the gardens to be completed. We had plans and architectural drawings to work from, but there were areas of woodland still unprepared and buildings still to go up. You have to believe it’s possible!

Several site visits later, following a gruelling schedule to pack the show up in New York and transfer it to Atlanta, we started the installation. Many things had changed on our journey from initial meetings to this point, and we continually adapted our planning to accommodate the works and various issues, which arose, due to changes on-site.

Inevitably there were still problems, which could not have been foreseen or avoided; the weather was stormy, too wet and even, later on, too hot to put the final touches to some of the works, some of our planned access routes had to be changed due to weight restrictions, some due to water and electricity routing, and some of the works were at the absolute weight limit for the size of crane we had available on a particular site. The nature of the works was varied too, meaning some could be lifted directly into their final position, whilst others had to be assembled on site.

As always the problems were solved, the work was gleaming and finished, sitting proudly in situ, as though it had been there forever, and it was time to sit back, enjoy our sense of achievement and party. And what a way to enjoy it; we attended black-tie functions, cocktail parties and even an opening event with sheep… What a job!

I consider myself very privileged to have been to some of the best places in the world, with some of the best works in the world, and to have met some of the very nicest people in the world, particularly at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

The road-show goes on, and I will be returning to pack up, and say goodbye to Georgia, and it’s great little tree frogs.

I have gone from a small boy who climbed on Moore’s sculptures to being a guardian of them, stopping others from damaging them in any way, but letting them enjoy them in amazing settings.

James Copper, Henry Moore Foundation