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3 Score & 10

3 Score & 10 is a large, hanging sculpture made from 70 lengths of strings. Each string contains 365 hand-tied knots and altogether the piece contains a total of 25,568 knots – the exact number of days (including leap years) that you’d live if you reached your biblically allotted 70 years. It took me two years to make – it was started around Christmas 2003 and finished in January 2006.

3 Score & 10 is part of the Numbers Series; an ongoing collection of works about the meaning of time.

'3 Score & 10' in progress in the studio'3 Score & 10' pooling on the studio floor.'3 Score & 10' installed in 'Broken Threads', my solo exhibition in Bristol's Here Gallery, Feb 2006I got into a real rhythm with the knotting and was able to knot surprisingly accurately without looking at the string: fortunately, slight organic differences are a feature of my work!People enjoyed touching this very tactile work, the string is slightly rough and the knots feel good when they’re pulled through your fingers. I enjoyed making it for that reason, although the knotting gave me blisters and callouses.Close up of '3 Score & 10' installed in the Here Gallery, Feb 2006.I think artists have scales they tend to work to. My scale is about 1 cm: that's how far apart the knots are and it’s a scale that’s apparent in other pieces like my pin works and my drawings.The first time this was shown in an exhibition, it was hung very neatly but I decided that I prefered it messy because it represents a life and life certainly isn't neat and tidy!Shadows are important in my work, I am drawn to their graphic but insubstantial nature.One of the first images I took of this work, way back in March 2004. When I began knotting, I knew that it would take me a while but I didn't think it would be two years!

Further work from this series can be found on the Knots Flickr page.

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