Contemporary artists work their magic on blocks of stone

The challenge was part of the STONE project which was launched to preserve the skills of master craftsmen for posterity and the results can be seen in a new exhibition which opens at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park this weekend.

STONE is the brainchild of the Edinburgh College of Art and alongside sculptures by the likes of Joel Fisher, Atsu Okamoto and Susanne Specht, the event will also feature documentary films and photographs which organisers hope will show that when philosopher Woody Dorsey remarked, "a man may discover the whole of the universe simply by carving a stone, he was right".

"The idea of the project is to ensure these ancient human skills are preserved for future generations and the results of the research are fascinating," says a spokesman for the YSP. "From tomorrow visitors will have the chance to see a striking group of pictures which show quarries, tools, machinery, and artworks in progress. There is also a separate group of smallerimages which capture the individual hands of stone workers and artists; some are twisted, broken and contorted by decades of unforgiving work.

"The films add a further dimension, capturing often astonishing working practices, from an Indian man lowering himself hundreds of metres into a quarry using a single rope, to an elderly woman repeatedly hitting stone with a huge mallet, whilst wearing only a sari and sandals."

The STONE exhibition in the Bothy Gallery runs to May 3 and the park will also be holding a stone carving workshop in the summer. For more information visit www.ysp.co.uk or call 01924 832631.