'We are transforming this austere and compelling space'

In Dilston Grove's Clare College Mission Church, South London two artists used living grass to create this stunning spectacle.

Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey in 2003 filled a deconsecrated church with grass, grown from seed. See this extraordinary project developing.

4pm, Tuesday September 24

Organised mayhem as 12 assistants and a film crew joined us today to commence final preparations before we begin to plant the walls with grass seed. We are slowly transforming this austere and compelling space. Over the next month the resulting growth will be a lush, vertical expanse of seedling grass, brilliant green and tender.

Tuesday September 24

Toda, though, the space looked like a forest of gleaming scaffolding towers. In the backroom we have sacks of germinating seed and today over 625 kilos of clay was mixed, a quarter of what we estimate we will need to cover the roughcast concrete interior. Particularly exciting was removing the boards covering the tall windows to reveal twisted lead panes and remnants of clear glass, opaque with age.

Tuesday September 24

Tomorrow we start to put the clay and seed on the walls.

Tuesday September 30

The forest of scaffold towers has now given over to a clear chamber of growing seedling grass. The quietly growing space belies the intense effort of the last week. A seeding team, working all hours, covered the walls by hand with clay and seed. Not without some bloodshed; the walls are rough, flint like glass that nicks and cuts. And a pit of clay out back that began to resemble a hippo wallowing pool. But slowly the transformation took place. The dark clay embedded with seed gave a beautiful dense texture, eradicating the flaws of the building, enhancing the architectural elegance. It took 15 - 18 of us five days to cover the interior. As the grass grows, the air is fresh, oxygenated. Mary Lemley said it was like breathing the breath of the grass. Graeme Miller arrives with the sound composition tomorrow.

Thursday October 9

The grass grows beautifully. Graeme's soundtrack is an evocation of space, time and haunting reflection. The response has been fantastic, people are returning to witness it growing and changing, and seem absorbed and elevated by it. This we can understand; it is the quiet charge of this living material that keeps inviting us to create new works.

Friday October 10

Our concerns about the grass suffering from too much humidity at present seem unfounded; the height of the space is allowing a good convection of air, keeping it fresh and healthy. And two oak benches arrived today (by popular demand); they work very well in the space. The sunlight when it appears in these overcast days is illuminating in every sense of the word. We look forward to the weekend but suspect that word of mouth is travelling fast.