Master Rock is a radio broadcast and series of site-specific performances conceived and written by Maria Fusco, commissioned by Artangel and BBC Radio 4. It tells the tale of Ben Cruachan, a mountain into which a huge chamber was carved in the 1960s by a group of workmen known as tunnel tigers, to create a vast hydro-electric power station – a triumph of brute force and state-of-the-art technology. The artwork is formed of interwoven narrative voices of the mountain, the tunnel tigers, and the artist who was commissioned to create a mural inside the mountain to celebrate its creation. It was staged and recorded on-site inside Ben Cruachan in October 2015.
The book combines archival materials and photography of the creation of the power station with geological information and an account of the mythology of the place. Our design uses Futura and a varied treatment of images, in homage to pocket-sized educational handbooks popular during the 1960s.
Listen to the performance here.
