Thread Through Time
Thread Through Time – Robert Conybear & Uta Molling
‘Thread Through Time’ in the Bull Yard was made by Robert Conybear and Uta Molling in 1999 after a public choice from a range of models exhibited in a shop in Bull Yard in June 1998. Each model explained about the proposals and a short questionnaire was filled in by Coventry citizens for their thoughts. The sculpture is a cone shape with the point facing up. Within the point is a six metre high tube which has a laser inside that points to infinity (this no longer works). The cone was cast using recycled crushed concrete, stone and bricks from the nearby old Rolls Royce factory (formally Armstrong Siddeley) on Parkside.
Parkside factory
It represents a spool of thread that is intertwined with the story of Coventry’s past.
Designs have been cut and carved into the surface of the sculpture, first into clay then a mount is made and into the cone shaped mould was poured the concrete mix of rubble from the factory embedding itself in the work. Amongst the designs are a ‘Bull’ sitting in a yard in front of a building with an archway and behind that is the Coventry spires, this is because this statue is in ‘Bull Yard’.
There is also a picture of Greyfriers Gate that once stood near this spot and was once an important entrance gate into the city.
It has many other symbols around it starting, with the Sun. It also includes an ‘Elephant’, a symbol of Coventry on its Coat of Arms. The elephant was seen not only as a beast of strength, but also as a symbol of Christ’s redemption of the human race. The Elephant was also seen as a dragon slayer in Medieval thinking.
The statue is painted in a dark olive green with red and black flecks. It could do with a bit of love and care as some stickers have been fly posted on it.
The artist Robert Conybear is from Swansea and has done many commissions for his home town in partnership with his fellow sculptor Uta Molling, who is from Germany. Their work includes a Lighthouse sculpture for the Swansea Marina, a sculpture called ‘Ecliptica’, a weather vane for the Marina Tower Observatory and a wall mosaic for the sea cadets’ headquarters. They have also done other work including 24 mosaic ceramics panels for Luton town centre.
