Updated: February 14th, 2022.
Secret Station, a Cardiff landmark from 1992 when Cardiff Bay Arts Trust commissioned artist Eilis O’Connell to design a monument for the gateway into the Cardiff Bay redevelopment project. The project transformed the bay area from an industrial wasteland into a permanent lake fronted by bars, clubs and restaurants and hotels and put Cardiff on the map at the turn of the Millennium as one of the UK’s up and coming cities.
Made using bronze, fibre optic light, and steam, which stopped working a long time ago, the landmark boosted the entrance to one of the main routes into Cardiff Bay and was an imposing sight.
For more than a few years now, though, Secret Station has stood derelict and gradually stripped of its bronze/copper skin, leaving it now standing naked and fully exposed to the elements. The inner workings were visible, which, when initially built, would puff out smoke/steam to passing traffic. Those days are gone, the smoke machine having long given up the ghost, but the structure still stands, although for how long, who knows?
Initially, I photographed Secret Station as part of a City and Guilds project for a Ffotogallery photography project on Cardiff Bay, a couple of years following construction. I wanted it to be in black and white and a long exposure of a couple of seconds to capture light trails from passing traffic. This was taken around the same time as my photographs of the Norwegian Church and St David’s Hotel.
In 1992 this was shot on a Hasselblad 501 with an 80mm Zeiss lens on Ilford Delta 100ASA black and white film. I developed this in the Ffotogallery darkrooms and printed it on Ilford fibre-based paper.
Lately, I’ve been using the PhotoPills app to better plan my photography. It has a fantastic amount of data on times of sun, moon, milky-way rises, and settings, plus you can plan ahead of time to see what time you need to be there to catch the perfect photograph.
Photographing this a second time, I used a Sony A7 iii with Voigtlander Nokton 40mm lens @ f16 for about 8 seconds.
Since posting this update, I reached out to Eilis O’Connell through my Instagram, and she graciously replied. With her permission, I’ve posted the replies here on my blog. It is such a shame that Cardiff Council have let this treasure fall into disrepair. See the comments below.
Link to artist’s page: Eilis O’Connell
Hi Eilis, Thanks for the likes on my pictures of your sculpture of Secret Station. It’s not in the best state of repair unfortunately. It would be great if cardiff council would recommission it, as I remember well the puffs of smoke it used to put out. 😀👍👏
Yes I know about it’s current state and the local authority promised to do something but I’ve heard nothing. It used to puff out steam at rush hour but they never maintained that either.
I wrote a post on it a while back of the original picture i took in the late 1990s, if you are interested – https://grays.life/secret-station-by-eilis-oconnell/ . If I’ve got any of the details wrong, please let me know. 👍
Regards, james
Hi James, Thanks for that link, it’s depressing what has happened to Secret Station over the years. Public art is very rarely maintained properly. This sculpture used to puff out steam and the fibre optics went on when darkness fell. The steam generators and fibre optic projectors were never maintained despite the fact that I suggested that Crown Engineering located right next to the sculpture would maintain for an annual fee but no contract with the commissioners was set up. I can’t understand how public money is wasted in this way no one seems to be responsible. I used to be idealistic about making art for everyone but no one seems to care unless you are famous and your work has monetary value. It will probably cost the authority’s more money to take my piece down than it would to have maintained it over the years and it would have been a job for someone who might just have passed it by and smiled to see it working in order.
I also photographed this henge like sculpture in 1994, as part of a project on modern Welsh standing stones, for my degree studies a UWC Newport, now USW in the Atrium. The image didn’t make the final cut but I was always pleased with it. I also revisited about a few years back, to shoot it again in it’s current poor state of repair. It was one of the best pieces of public art in Cardiff and it’s sad but also annoying to see it’s current state of dereliction. I think it should be dismantled, restored and re-situated down the Bay on the Barrage, where it can be isolated and protected from scrap metal merchants but fat chance of that happening under todays financial constraints.
My photographs of the sculpture can be seen on my Instagram account ;-
https://www.instagram.com/pmartindiff/
Thanks Philip, for writing your comment about the Secret Station. It’s a real shame that this piece of artwork has just been left to fend for itself and been allowed to literally fall apart. You don’t see that happening in other countries, especially where art is respected and enjoyed by the whole population. It kind of makes you wonder what was the point in commissioning it in the first place, if the maintenance of it wasn’t going to be put in place. I couldn’t see your picture on your Instagram feed, but if you want to reply with an embedded copy of it, then please feel free to do so! All the best, James