Artist Mark Titchner was appointed by Network Rail to create a new public artwork for the new GBR Anglia, Cambridge South Station. His concept, Together We, explores the theme of circulation – how people, ideas and energy move through a place and come together. This draws on Titchner’s research into 17th century Cambridge physician William Harvey, whose early description of the circulatory system became a key reference point for the commission.

Using language as a central part of his practice, Titchner developed a long, flowing sequence of words inspired by Harvey’s collected writings. The text implies different forms of coming together, yet the word together itself appears only in the title. Installed along the station’s sweeping central staircases, the artwork reveals itself gradually as passengers move through the building, echoing the movement across the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the wider transport networks that link the city.

Titchner worked with London Mural Company to translate this extended text into a bold intervention that animates the central spine of the building and accompanies passengers as they enter and ascend through the station. The artwork also exists as a dynamic digital piece, available to download.

The commission was accompanied by a public engagement programme involving three primary schools in Trumpington (Fawcett Primary School, Trumpington Meadows Primary School and Trumpington Park Primary School), introducing Mark’s practice and the themes behind the artwork – exploring notions of connection and place. Titchner also undertook additional activity with CUH Arts, extending the project’s reach across the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Images: ‘Together We’ by Mark Titchner
Photographs: Courtesy of the artist