For those Commonty members who missed out on today's D&G Standard, the above scanned image, contains details of the short-listed 'Great Unknown' shiny metal works that might soon grace Scotland's border with England.
Just click on the image to make it instantly readable...
Posted by Mark MacLachlan on behalf of The Commonty
Oh how disappointing. I really expected something magnificent. These are all so--familiar.
ReplyDeleteThe 'first contemporary icon for the nation' (Andrew Dixon - CEO Creative Scotland)....are we sure?
ReplyDeleteLets be in no doubt here - this project IS of national significance. Our cultural reputation is world class - our nation is growing in confidence. The moment was right for a wonderful project that caused a collective intake of breath across the world.
Emperor's new clothes moment....somehow we are seeing a group of proposals that look like they have been made by people whose only qualification has been to read the ladybird 'How to' public art manual - either that or they have raided the longlist suggestions of a competition for a roundabout in Skelmersdale.
There is nothing that I can see here that has any resonance whatsoever with a contemporary sense of the identity of Scotland.
I want to feel proud when I cross the border not cheated
The blue sign that says “welcome to Scotland” gives more warmth and sense of arrival than this roundabout art will ever do. Iconic objects become iconic because communities adopt them as such, not because they are told to. these proposals are naff and no more than pastiche engineering projects.
ReplyDeleteAre the previous commentators blind or just unable to appreciate the true cutting edge of these designs. Charles Jencks (who is deservedly the joint author of three entries in a competition of three) was one of the pioneers of the theories of Postmodern Design. In Postmodernism nothing is what it seems – but is rather, a multiple layering of references – the cumulative effect of which amounts to an embodiment of contemporary reality.
ReplyDeleteIf we look closely at the submitted designs it becomes obvious that an audacious game of cultural referencing is at work here – a process that the authors are clearly identifying with the ongoing re-invention of a national identity.
I detect a bewildering array of references from lava lamps to the patterns on FIFA world cup balls, there is even a reference to the inclusivity of Scottish society in the delicate interplay between the wedding veil and the yashmak.
I would urge the panel that is judging this competition to charge the creative team with pushing further into this fertile territory and merge all three designs in a truly groundbreaking postmodern fusion. If you turned the tall one upside down and put the round one on top and attached the other one – you could end up with a Flashing Pokey Hat in a Burka....perhaps that might even be enough to convince the philistines who have dared to question the merits of progress so far.
Can we get the tailor to the emperors royal houshold to stand nearby to give a running commentry on the amazing work and an A&E unit in Gretna to deal with car crashes caused by our being blinded by the briliance of the creators
ReplyDeleteThe 'Great Uninspired' more like.Supported by the usual 'artspeak' and patronising uninformed word verbage with reference to Scottish history.
ReplyDeleteThese 'things' could go anywhere and are committee designed objects that are certainly not memorable.
Is corporate 'pedigree' the right criteria for overlooking real ideas.
What an opportunity missed.
Just give me a 50m high ancient Scotsman weilding a claymore.....twee? patronising? old hat? perhaps but for sure you would know which country you were entering !
ReplyDeleteoh and perhaps he could be blowing the sails of a nearby fashionable windfarm? That was flippant but the figure idea wasnt Please lets have something we can truly relate to