Musings from the Merse
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Or so it says on the Ordinance Survey map. One of several sculptures scattered over a large area of Dumfries and Galloway countryside. No signs, no parking, no explanations. We can only guess at the titles but 'Odd Couple' might cover both Moore's
The third statue is obviously not an HM. Again no explanation. Title could be 'Nude with Codpiece' PPs concealed behind a slab of mossy copper.
Labels: Dumfries, Henry Moore, Public Art
Thursday, February 14, 2008
David and the Unknown construction Worker
No this is not Borders Public Art (We have no unclothed Wallaces as far as I know) but I am reverting to a recent post about the alleged outbreak of unsuitable public art. Compare and contrast the images above : the Unknown Construction Worker from Tower Hill and Micheangelo's David-apparently the UCW is inspired (?) by David-note the posture-and apparently the name on his belt is Dave (not Paddy then)
I have been ticked off by Anon of Eyemoth for not mentioning the series of statues to be erected to commemorate the Great Fishing Disaster in the 19th Century. Sorry. Huttonian is not a habitue of Eyemouth. But I was really bemoaning the lack of more contemporary stuff-like the Flasher/Angel of the North who celebrates his tenth anniversary today. A Flasher for St Valentines Day? And perhaps more akin to David in that respect than the modestly garbed UCW
Btw the top smaller image is from the Giant Snoggers in St Pancras International. Previously attracted the ire of both Huttonian and Disgruntled Commuter
Labels: Angel of the North, Flasher of the North, Public Art
Monday, February 11, 2008
Public Art: THe Borders' Strike Back.
Someone of the Luvvy tendency was banging on this morning on the Today programme about the deplorable standard of 'Public Art' and the lack of any control over the erection of unsuitable and grotesque statues: one example he gave was the Giant Snoggers in St Pancras (see previous posts) and another: The Unknown Construction Worker which has suddenly appeared on Tower Hill.Not unsimilar he suggested to Michael Angelo's David-must have been modelled on a Kerryman.
Around these parts we are not well endowed with public artistic manifestations-The Angel of the North (aka the Great Gateshead Flasher) is well south of us. There is Wallace monument not too far away and a memorial to Waterloo but nothing modern and certainly nothing that could be taken as a commentary on Merse manners today. We await of course, with baited breath, a tribute to the Fighting, Drinking, Smoking Bear but that again will be historical rather than contemporary. So in the meanwhile: Perhaps in Greenlaw, could someone erect something appropriate to mark the recent history of the area: One suggestion:
The Unknown Bird Poisoner
Perhaps?
Labels: Merse, Poisoning Birds, Public Art
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
PUBLIC ART-PAXTON STYLE
It may not match up to the new St Pancras but the modest little Merse has the odd dollop of public art in the most unexpected places. Odder than most to Huttonian's uncultivated eye is the redbrick structure below Paxton House on the wheelchairs- are- definitely -not- recommended path down to the Tweed from the Croquet paddock. Its been there ever since we moved to the Borders and once had a descriptive panel which now wishes to remain anonymous; not vandalised just weather beaten.It may be that the current custodian of the Paxton House art collection is more interested in the welfare of the exhibits within the house than in anything away from the main building. I hope someone, somewhere, has kept a record of the title of this exhibit otherwise it may go the same way as Churchill's Secret Bunker.
In the absence of a title for the moment Hutton Think Tank have launched a nation-well Merse- wide competition for one: Le Grand Pissoir is one entry from a Borderer exiled to France and on the same theme:
'Gentlemen: Standing Room Only' from 'Arty of Ayton'
You can surely do better than that. All entries with a sae for the certified results to the HT2 dead letter box, at the usual place.Allow for seasonal delays as the deadletter postman is on a skiing holiday in Kurdistan
Labels: Paxton House, Public Art
