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| Another Place by Anthony Gormley. 06/04/2014. 13:44 |
This was taken in 2014 at Crosby beach. Stretched out in
front of me and to the sides for 2 miles is the breath taking "Another
place" by Anthony Gormley. At this point I had been working on WARTOYS for
a couple of years and I was already tired of it. Constantly exposing myself and
researching the worst the world could offer and turning it into art. I was also
not confident in the work. I hadn't yet become proficient in the
"language" or the "style" I wanted, and it was slow going.
I was lucky during the proceeding years as I was almost completely surrounded
by art and artists almost every day and so much of what I saw seemed so
sophisticated, so polished. The concepts so high. I really wanted to make that
kind of art. I remember feeling so often like I was failing so very badly. Not
unlike the last year or so, it was only my "day job" art that kept me
in the creative loop and kept me plugging away. Thankfully, wartoys grew and I
managed to learn how to talk a little better in that style and ended up very
happy with it. But during the lead up to this trip to "Another Place"
I was about as self-doubting as one could be. I just wanted to make something
different.
I can't remember how long we spent on the Beach that day. It was so cold, and
the wind was howling. Lite drizzle came and went and myself and my then
girlfriend would join, chat, divide and wonder off looking and chat again.
Although I'd seen "Another Place" plenty of times in pictures and on
TV it wasn't until standing in between these stoic weather beaten souls did I
really begin to, or maybe even take the time to, consider the piece. I'd loved
it since forever but for its technical success, problem solving, haunting
beauty and probably also for being what I think is TRUE dark art. But being
there on that day, being someone those figures at one time looked towards and
being a guy that also looked towards them was a heavy realization. Gormley
punched me square in the guts. I would have cried if not for the excitement of
my realization. I remember how my mind raced and how fill with art I was. I
felt touched. Not in an emotional way (although it was an emotional experience)
but I felt I had received the message. I felt a connection to Gormley, or at
least his idea and like we had talked and shared experiences. And there is
something else. While standing among these silent lives, you feel their gaze
and motion out to sea but there is a sense of orbit as well. They don’t spin,
and their direction is set outward but they seem connected to one another. Like the
mass of planets lock each other these longing iron spirits seem to have a
similar attraction, just enough to not move too far apart yet dare not come to
close together lest they collide and cease. I remember saying to my partner how
they seemed like planets, whole worlds. The beach, its erosion, shifting dunes,
crashing waves, birds, humans, rubbish, chaos, no doubt eventual doom, was
every solar system that will ever be. I remarked to my beautiful girlfriend, “It’s
like walking between worlds. Oh wow, that is a great name for a series”.
It is 8 years since that day, and I have been working on “Between Worlds” in my mind and on paper since. For the last year I have begun creating some of the work, the first of which in in the previous post, a short film “A Slowly Rounding Peg” based on the sculpture “1000 lives a moment”. Like the previous series, it is slow going. I trying to learn the language and find the style, but I am, and it feels nice. I have a few pieces fully formed in my mind and a couple coming together in the workshop, but any artist will tell you how easy that is. Any subject or idea will spit a few immediate outliers out swiftly but ensuring I will have enough to fill my time for the next 10 years or so, that is another trick. I’m working on it.
Life being what it is, I have been preoccupied well beyond what I am capable with dealing with for a while now so this blog, my social media have all been token efforts at best. As such, I have been having a little trouble “engaging”. I hope to change this and deliver some new work soon. I hope you have been well.
My kind regards
