We apologise for any inconvenience caused

We apologise for any inconvenience caused is a major public art commission for University of Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus. It hangs at the entrance to the Sloane Robinson Building, drawing people into the interior public spaces of its Exchange Hall. The work uses a large-scale split flap board to communicate playful instructions to the wide audiences that will use this space daily. The historical association of split flap technology with train station signage is a nod to the proximity of the new entrance to Temple Meads station and enables the artists to play with the significance of time in a public artwork. They have created 365 text works – one for each day of the year – which will appear and disappear as the split flaps rotate throughout the day.

(John Wood and Paul Harrison) Wood and Harrison both studied at Bath College of Higher Education and have been working together since 1993. Their studio is at Spike Island in Bristol’s harbourside. They create video works and experiment with the physical limitations, scale and movement of the human body in relation to the surrounding environment. They also make objects linked to urban environments that encourage a sense of play and recreation. Their work has been exhibited across the world including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate London. It speaks to the global and civic audiences that will be welcomed into the new public spaces of the campus.

The artwork is one of three major public art commissions developed to embed creativity into the new campus and to encourage creative exchange and connection between the University and the wider city.

The split flap board was fabricated by Oat Foundry in Philadelphia and installed with the support of Spike Island Exhibition Services.