Tricky times at the Daily Mail - what do you do when confronted by a modern art controversy that has been created by two members of the landed gentry......answer:
The 'fat slag' that's dividing opinion: How a 1,300ft high waste heap sculpture of a rotund woman has split the North East
'Officially, she was named
'Northumberlandia' by creators the Banks Mining Group, Viscount Matthew
Ridley and landscape architect Charles Jencks.'
(would have all been so much easier if it had been that northern oik Hirst or the chap with the foreign name who did the helter-skelter at the Olympics.....they are referred to in the article BTW)
Hmm rumours abound that the Gretna landmark, is a giant cock...up.
ReplyDeleteAt least the slag heap was a result of hard work by people who did an honest days work for a honest days pay, unlike this.
ReplyDeletePresumably Mr Jenck's quote in the article 'I think the people of Northumberland will rather like the idea that their county and countryside is given identity like this' - will come as news to generations of folk who have been mistakenly thinking that the landscape had an identity already.
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Mail has given great service in publishing pictures of the finished project alongside the artist's sketches - it would appear that this artist might be in danger of becoming too divorced from the means of producing his work? Comparision of the right arm and hand in the drawings and models with the constructed reality is instructive.
Fascinating that we are privileged to watch the development of Mr Jenck's oeuvre in this way - always inspiring to see courage and risk-taking.
The comments beneath the article are a hoot.
ReplyDelete"The waste heap sculpture typifies how billions have been spent over the last couple of decades on the arts instead of on our frontline services and on improving job prosepects. Charities and voluntary organisations have coined it in helping deprived areas become even more deprived and dependant on the pitiful handouts, with the only help available being the goody too shoes charities and voluntary organisations who condescendingly impose their middle classs values wasting their money on their pet projects in the arts. Chuck a couple of plants at a project to make those in the deprived areas feel good. Slap some fresh paint on the deprived community to make someone proud to live in a pretty deprived comunity. God forbid anything constructive is achieved with all of the money swilling around from government and the likes of the lottery." - John, Wales, 26/8/2012 23:51.
'Northumberlandia' reminds me of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire which may (or may not) represent a pregnant earth goddess.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what proportion of the cost has been met from public funds?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Banks Group website: The entire project has been entirely privately funded by the Banks Group and Blagdon Estate. http://www.banksgroup.co.uk/northumberlandia-site/realisation/
ReplyDeleteBlagdon Estates is owned by the 5th Viscount Ridley, who was chairman of Northern Rock. Ridley was blamed by MPs for the direction the bank took which was instrumental in bringing the economy to its knees.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of restoration of open cast minds is built into the capital costs of opening the mine in the first place and is subject to massive tax relief. Often the short falls are made up from the Mineral Trust funds which are supposed to assist the communities affected by the plague of open cast mining.
The Banks Group, or Banks Mining as they are better known are responsible for a huge number of opencast mines throughout Scotland and some of the more contentious wind farms.
Northumblandia is a fluffy pawn of distraction to keep the plebs happy whilst the Banks Group get about their business of tearing rural communities apart, killing jobs, despoiling views, felling forests, destroying wildlife habitats, causing industrial accidents, burdening the roads infrastructure etcetera, all to afford the lovely estates the funds restock their wine cellars whilst pensioners freeze.