It's been a busy day. I vowed to do something creative with Drummerboy's bedroom whilst he was away and the simple removal of a junk ridden computer desk has opened up a whole can of worms. The boy is a hoarder of gargantuan proportions so between cruising the Hills Homemaker Centre for a suitable flat screen TV and a shelving unit (flat pack and self construct with a bloody alun key of course) there's been little time for anything else. But this isn't the point. By 4.00pm I was exhausted. You will be pleased or completely disinterested to know that he now has 8 box shelves in his bedroom and a slim flatscreen TV and DVD plus nice cream yet masculine linen and it smells of Paco Rabanne rather than . . .well I don't know what that smell was and I have an accute sense!I have bruised feet from dropping bits of heavy MDF shelving on my thong clad tootsies and the frustration of gluing dowel into the wrong holes (fucking Chinese instructions) So at the end of it all, I poured myself a glass of the bubbly stuff and tuned into the Sunday Arts Show.
I love the Yarts. I can wonder around a sculpture garden or a gallery or go to the theatre of the absurd or meander the streets during the Sydney festival and forget that there is a world other than that which art encompasses. Stay with me , there is a loose connection. Sadly, haven't had the time recently but . . On the show was an introspective on Antony Gormley, the English sculptor accredited with the construction of the Angel of the North and decidedly taking sculpture to the people. I've seen this thing in magazines and on the telly. Probably most notable was Billy Connolly's traverse around England but it's truly wonderful. The fact that Newcastle Soccer fans actually dressed it in a jersey some time ago makes it even more a sculpture of the people. I t started me thinking about sculpture that has enthralled and entertained, unpretentious and prevailing. I thought of the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Arts exhibition of 'Puppy' a 30 metre growing sculpture which had everyone smiling.
Jeff Koons' Puppy outside the MCAOr Sculpture by the Sea, a September/October event where the walk from Bondi to Coogee is adorned with sculpture mad and marvellous. But I must admit the body of work from Antony Gormley is stunning. There! Arts on Sunday . . . my feet hurt, I hate alun keys but the TV is a bloody coup at $298! Less my $60 JV Hi Fi voucher from Christmas! I can't tell you how long it took to gently de-dust Darth Vader and his lego companions!
A map of the shopping centre where I searched for the storage solution
The number of people out shopping whilst I was looking for the storage unit from hell
How I felt after seeing the prices of several storage units from hell
The way I looked at 4.00pm realising that I'd had nothing to eat or drink all day searching for the storage unit from Hell
. . . and me right now, slightly sore and rather pixelated!
. . . and me right now, slightly sore and rather pixelated!Seriously though, how good is his stuff!
And a little baby huntsman watching today's construction of the storage unit from Hell . . . the only pic here not by young Antony . . .
(Just to make you go eeuuuww - aww c'mon, look how furry and cute he is - don't worry he was only about 7 cm across and politely stayed on the ceiling)
And a little baby huntsman watching today's construction of the storage unit from Hell . . . the only pic here not by young Antony . . .
(Just to make you go eeuuuww - aww c'mon, look how furry and cute he is - don't worry he was only about 7 cm across and politely stayed on the ceiling)
Wow, you're very well up on British art. AND you're really keen on art full stop. Impressed and pleased! I love Anthony Gormley's stuff, including Angel of the North and all those other amazing sculptures. Puppy is brilliant - wish it had been there when I visited the MCA. I've also done the walk from Coogee to Bondi and wish I'd been around for the sculpture. I love all the Australian aboriginal art. We have a fantastic print by Michael Nelson Jagamara that we bought at Ulladulla on the Circular Quay.
ReplyDeleteI drove past the Angel many times. I can't say it is a favourite of mine.
ReplyDeleteNot really Nick I hadn't heard of him before although I knew the Angel of the North. I'm an armchair cricic I'm afraid but I know what I like. Puppy was here a few years ago for the Sydney Festival it really was cute.I didn't realise you'd been to Oz. Not a great fan of Aboriginal stuff, maybe because we're flooded with it here but it's gaining good recognition in Britain particularly and a valuable source of income for many communities.
ReplyDeleteOh GranyMar . .It's brilliant. Perfect for an industrial city. All widespread and rusty. I particularly liked the beach people. They're a permanent installation and get covered by the sea when the tide comes in. (Wouldn't want to run into a submerged bronze in me tinny tho!)
Baino, a source of income for Sydney airport as well. We bought our print for about £200 but at the airport they were selling it for about £500!!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is...I hope DrummerBoy appreciates your gargantuan efforts when he gets back!
ReplyDeleteLucky fella!
Yikes! That's a lot of work, Baino! Drummerboy better appreciate it. :)
ReplyDelete"Arts on Sunday." Hmmm....Me thinks that is a grand idea! :)
I love those sculptures on the beach - I think they're totally amazing - surreal, evocative, whimsical. Stunning stuff. But please, couldn't you have just kept the spider to yourself!
ReplyDeleteThere is a dearth of sculpture round here, which is such a pity. Of all the Yarts sculpture, by it's very nature, should be accessible to all.
Oh Av it's lovely isn't it. He did an installation in London last year of the same sorts of figures in cloisters, I'm not sure where and also in public plazas. You just want to go and have a conversation with them! Apparently the local bird lovers (sorry Anony) objected to the beach sculptures because they thought the people looking at them would upset the nesting environment. He won a court case and now they're a permanent installation. The birdies like them too!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about the bird lovers objected to the beach sculpture and would have been torn in half from sitting on a fence trying to decide between the two. Good to hear the birds are now adding their art to the sculptures :)
ReplyDelete