John Aiken
Belfast-born sculptor
John Aiken left the city at 18, when the Troubles began, to study at Chelsea College of Art.
He's now Head of Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art. From childhood he's been fascinated by fortifications: the tower houses of Ireland, medieval castles, the barbed wire and corrugated iron of contemporary Belfast and the concrete of the German bunkers in northern France which he describes as 'the biggest sculpture park in the world'. What interests him is the impact of these installations on the landscape, rather than their function.
Film cameraman JOHN MCNEILL Film editor CHRIS MASON Producer JOHN ARCHER
BBC Scotland and Northern Ireland
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