Now we have a concept to bring together five cherry trees and sculptural drawings in an art installation, the next step was to choose a location for the work.

I needed to create a composition with the trees to think about what the sculptural drawings could be. Will they be in a circle, will they be in a straight line, will they be far apart or close together?  All of these options will feel very different and will impact what the sculptures will look like.

I walked around Ebbsfleet Green imaging the work in different places and talked to the people designing the landscaped spaces around the new community buildings to see if the art installation could be accommodated within their designs.

In this process, it became clear that the work needed space around it.  If it was placed amongst or near other trees, plants, buildings or street furniture like benches and bins, the sense of it being a whole composition or a single artwork would become confused and the boundaries blurred of where it ended and other objects began. The ‘green rectangle indicates roughly where the artwork will sit.

The grassed area at the north end of the central path as it crosses Ackers Drive felt like the perfect spot. It’s accessible from all sides, allows the artwork to be experienced from both far away and close up. It can be approached across the grass or passed closely on the two adjacent paths, and it’s possible to sit ‘in it’ on the grass and enjoy the view.

I placed the trees towards the vegetation away from the homes to the east, and arranged them to create a pair and a trio, close enough to each other to feel like a group but without infringing on the individual tree canopies.