03 Jun Collaborating for “Coal”
Coal is a joint show being created by Samuel Peacock and his daughter Storm Peacock being exclusively exhibited at George Thornton Art, Nottingham during September 2025. The show aims to shine artistic light on some of the change in our energy Industry over the last year, especially in Towns such as Radcliffe on Soar which is in the Nottingham district. The artwork is an artists response to an industrial environment and one that of decay. For the show, itself, the artists have worked on an ambient score for the show which highlights the work on display.
The artwork itself is made by using steel sheets which have been buried in the ground for a year to age and distress the steel. The sheets were pre prepped with a mix of ferric chloride and oil paint mixed with coffee, then left to decay, this is the usual process I would go through (minus the burying the steel) to prepare to make artwork. The steel has then been hand sanded and hammered whilst applying thin layers of washed out colours, the red and oranges come directly from the images of coal burning.
The concept of visual and an auditory artwork working in tandem is not a new concept, both elements needed to marry up for this. The original idea for Coal was the artwork to be visually striking in the way the steel has aged and become almost redundant, similar to the coal fired power industries and the sound which accompanied the artwork to be that of an ambient unease, similar to the works of Elliot Goldenthal who created the soundscapes for Alien 3. Both my daughter Storm and me are big fans of the franchise and when speaking initially about how best to underpin the idea, we kept referring back to how unnerving the score of these films made you feel. We wanted the music to stand out and become something that the audience would remember as part of the artwork, just as in really good films, the music becomes as integral as the characteristics as some of the lead actors.
Storm has been a music student for 2 years at a college in Brighton called Supajam where they give students who love music from all backgrounds a chance to do something they love. Storm is hearing impaired but chose to follow the path of music as she has shown real passion for this all of her life, I wanted to bring her in on this project with me as I feel that you need to give the next generation of people in the arts a chance to create something with attached value, this being the chance to produce the audio for this show. As the work is in the mixing stage, it is hard to comment of the final outcome. The sounds all come from the studio, wether it is a blowtorch heating the coal, steel scraping against the surface of steel, hammers hitting objects of chains hoisting large pieces of metal into the air, the sounds are all organic and captured from phones and then fed into a laptop. The aim is to have approximately 35 mins of audio runtime which will be looped for the show itself.
Conversation outtake with Sam and Storm
Sam– I’m glad you wanted to create the audio for this show, what has been your biggest influence so far Storm in movies?
Storm– We’ve always liked the same movies in a way, I really like a movie with a good car chase in it, but love science fiction and action and adventure, we watched Alien together when I was quite young, and I remember you said it would terrify me, but its really grown on me.
Sam– I think in the midst of lockdown, we both got ill one day, we both were up at 3 am and decided to listen to the making of Star Wars and how they made the sounds for the blasters by running steel over wire and getting the vibrations.
Storm– Its sometimes the most random things that you listen to or end up doing that really influence how you do things, I did a college project and video’d a water ripple as i had seen something similar in the opening of Lord of the Rings.
Sam– Some of the best movies are only as good as they are as they have really good soundtracks or ambient scores to accompany them. I really like the idea of us capturing sound from all the metal objects and fire making equipment I have in the studio of this show.
Storm– It has been good fun mixing the sound using Logic, this programme that we use at Supajam, We can create similar eerie sounds to that of Aliens or Alien 3 where you feel like you are on another planet.
Sam– The industrial sounds are integral to the show as it adds a different dimension and marries up well with the industrial nature of the work. Art shows sometimes can feel a little bit samey, I want to create something where people don’t stand around drinking and laughing but instead become absorbed by the work presented.
George Thornton is an art dealer and owner of George Thornton Art based in Nottingham. He has worked in the art industry for 20 years and represented Sam Peacock for the last 10. This body of work is the second solo show of Sam’s art presented to you by George. You can find George Thornton at art fairs across the country or at his Nottingham HQ
“Coal” is set to open this coming September at George Thornton Art, 12A Flying Horse Walk, Nottingham NG1 2HN, email ruth@georgethorntoart.com to be added to the guest list for the show.
