Subscribe to The Family Adventure Project by email with our RSS feed service |
| Another Place, Crosby Beach. (Click to enlarge) |
Who is that standing on the beach? So still, peaceful, meditative. Eyes fixed upon a land beyond the sea, shadow waxing and waning with the sun's arc, watching and waiting for the turn of the tide.
This contemplative being is not as lonely as he looks, but is one of a hundred figures in sculptor Anthony Gormley's installtion 'Another Place' on Crosby Beach. The hundred similar figures are spread out across 3 km of open beach, rising out of the sand at different levels, often at some distance from each other. Some remain untouched by anything but the highest of tides, while others stand almost permanently in the ebbing and flowing currents of the intertidal zone, their bodies etched, stained and weathered by their different circumstances. All look out to sea, to the land beyond.
 |
| Whatever our similarities, we all experience the same environment differently. (Click to enlarge) |
This post is part of the Photo Friday circle, from DeliciousBaby where you'll find links to other great travel blogs participating in Photo Friday.
*
Like what's here? Like us on Facebook for exclusive updates you won't find on this blog, Twitter or anywhere else!
I love art installations like this. Your pictures made the art seem so intriguing and I kept wanting to look again and again.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jessica. The installation itself had that effect on us, drawing us in, raising questions and discussion about what it is, what it means. I guess that's part of the social value of good public art.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the footprints that really sell it for me. I'm guessing those are just an unintended result of people going to get a closer look?
ReplyDeleteI'd not thought of that Steve. With no-one else around, they would perhaps look like 'his' footprints, perhaps adding to the sense of intrigue. But in this case I think we need to take the credit for adding that touch!
ReplyDeleteI love these photos - Such a well-written piece too! Really made me think more about the art and less about how much I want to go and see this!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking up today!!
~Becca
Thanks Becca, it's great to link up with other sites and see what photos they're sharing. Art serves many purposes, but I like these things that you stumble upon and make you think. We came across another great installation in Budapest in the city park where families can row around semi submerged toilets and park benches in the boating pond art gallery. http://www.familyadventureproject.org/2011/08/local-view.html Quite brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI love art installations for the simple reason that kids are drawn to them in a way that they aren't to art hanging on a wall in a traditional gallery. Intriguing is definitely the right word for this one. The figures staring out to sea capture the emotions surrounding emigration perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI agree Lisa, it's much easier to get kids (and grown ups too perhaps?) to engage with art on a beach, boating pond or park than in a gallery. Although I do relish the chance to do that with them too.. the Lowry in Manchester was brilliant for welcoming kids and giving practical opportunities to try their own hands at art too.
ReplyDeleteI don't know . . . is it kind of creepy to see unmoving, distant figures on an empty beach? They must be deeply rooted in the earth to not be washed away with the tide. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brillant idea for art! I would have never thought to do that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Stuart - would you mind if I shared this post on my Facebook page?? I just love it!
ReplyDelete~Becca
Becca, Feel free to share, no need to ask!
ReplyDeleteSonja, We've been sitting debating that since you raised it! It's interesting on two levels - how are they physically rooted to the ground, but also metaphorically in the context of the installation and thinking about how emigrants may remain rooted to their old 'home' long after they have gone and the struggle they may face to put roots down in a new place or for some to belong anywhere. I never knew a post could lead to such deep artistic introspection on a Friday night. Now for some wine!
ReplyDelete