Artist: Xevi Bayona

Artist: Xevi Bayona

Location: Newport Viaduct

Title: Smoke Train

Medium: sculpture installation

Date: 2014

Materials: various

Catalan artist and architect, Xevi Bayona, aimed to present challenging, large scale, temporary art installations on each Greenway. Audience interaction and light are a strong feature in Bayona’s finished artworks. For CHANGING TRACKS he created three very distinct works in the three different countries – while all evidently reference the past influence of the railway, each work observes a different element of that past, one that is specific to its physical and folkloric location.

The design of Smoke Train aimed to evoke the memory of the old steam trains that used t pass over the viaduct. Every 30 minutes the coiled tubing, representing the steam clouds, would literally 'steam' for 30 minutes.

CHANGING TRACKS was a contemporary visual and digital art project consisting of nine new temporary outdoor artworks by three international artists that respond to former railway lines, their heritage and local environment in Northamptonshire (UK), Mayo (IE) & Catalonia (CAT).
Artists from Ireland, Spain and the UK were asked to explore the shared economic and cultural heritage themes in relation to former railways. They were asked to consider the railway’s original impact on the community and the environment and then examine how the change of use has now impacted on local economies and lifestyles.
CHANGING TRACKS is a partnership project between Northamptonshire County Council (UK), Mayo County Council (IE) and Consortium Transversal, Cultural Activities Network from Catalonia (CAT) and is a recipient of funding from the EU Culture Programme 2007-2013. Visit the Changing Tracks website here.