A man circles the sculpture two or three times and then wanders away momentarily before quickly turning back, phone in hand.
The striking works of art at Middlesbrough Railway Station are already turning heads as the man frames artist Beth Johnson’s piece, Journey, and snaps a few photos from different angles.
Around 3,000 rail tickets, individually stitched together, cascade from a structure in the bustling concourse, mirroring the arches and curved windows of the 147-year-old station.
“We had people stop when I was installing and seeing people interact with the art is a really interesting experience, and they’ve had really nice things to say,” said Beth, surveying her work from a bench nearby as commuters regularly wander by to examine it.
“Everyone thinks differently about art and takes their own reaction away from it and that’s the exciting thing about it, really.”
The curiosity of station visitors doesn’t end with Journey – it’s only one of four large-scale pieces of art already on display as part of the Most Creative Station programme, which will see eight installations in total.
Artist-led organisation Navigator North formally launched the programme, celebrating and interacting with aspects of the town’s history and rail heritage, to kick off Middlesbrough Art Week last week.
For Journey, Beth spent four days earlier this year based in the station, asking people to donate their used tickets - but more importantly, people also donated their stories, with tales of travels from all over the world.
“I spoke to an MMA fighter who was going to train in the States, so it was the beginning of a journey too,” continued Beth.
“You got a real sense that the station was this gateway to everywhere and the idea for the piece developed from there. The people I spoke to definitely contributed to my idea – it’s about those stories, experiences and journeys.”
Beth, 42, who grew up in Scotland and now lives in Billingham, uses traditional embroidery techniques in her work.
The tickets were stitched together in phases over a four-month period and intricate techniques and patterns can be seen on each when viewed up close, as can the starting points and destinations of thousands of journeys – from Saltburn, Darlington, Thornaby to Edinburgh, Manchester and London and everywhere in between.
But when viewed from a distance, Journey takes on an entirely different look – some tickets are hole-punched, allowing small pin-pricks of multi-coloured light to escape through as it interacts with another piece of artwork.
Rachael Clewlow’s Tees Colour Register – a vibrant, colourful vinyl display which has temporarily transformed the concourse’s upper windows – was the first installation in the Most Creative Train Station programme.
Across the concourse sits Adam Shaw’s Kiosk – a temporary structure built by hand and inspired by a 1950s archive photograph of the station after it was rebuilt following its bombing in the Second World War.
Featured in the photo was the ‘E.D. Walker & Wilson’ newspaper kiosk, which has been recreated by Adam as a living artwork and printmaking space, which hosts workshops and produces archival material and heritage stories about Middlesbrough and the station.
The latest artwork installed is Emma Bennett’s Middlesbrough Moquette, which has transformed the Platform 2 waiting room.
After studying designs from the 1920s to present day, Emma developed bespoke patterns which reference the station’s architectural features including the original elliptical roof that was damaged in 1942 by a German air raid.
The designs now feature on practical, everyday spaces in the station such as seating and windows.
The Most Creative Station programme at Middlesbrough Railway Station is run by Navigator North in partnership with Middlesbrough Council and station operators TransPennine Express.
It forms part of a larger project to make Middlesbrough the Most Creative Town in the UK, after the Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership and Middlesbrough Council successfully bid for £4.25m from the Cultural Development Fund in 2022, administered by Arts Council England.
