Goodness, what an idea! To build a little chapel in the shape of the cloak! A bit strange, I guess, to be inside this giant cloak. I could imagine perhaps a smaller one, that would only accomodate one person, and you would literally be required to sit inside the Cloak?
The Man Standing on the Globe installation is very eye catching. I've found this info about it:
The globe is an art project of the Salzburg Foundation, created in 2007 by artist Stephan Balkenhol without interpretation. He created a female counterpart, a statue of a woman in a rock niche “Frau im Fels” on Toscaninihof.
Spoiler:
The sculpture is compelling for its sheer size, the ancient mysteriousness evoked by a golden orb with an unrelieved and muted reflective surface (which dimly reflects the cathedral and other surrounding buildings), and the evocativeness of the lone figure in shirtsleeves – is he a modern man, Everyman, lonely man? His expression does not give away any clues. The artist has written, “”My sculptures tell no tales. In them something mysterious hidden. It is not my task to reveal it, but the viewer to discover it.”
So seeing it in situ, what was your impression, MC? Did he strike you as lonely? Adventurous? Conqueror of the world? Hoplessly alone?
The Flower Puppy outside the Guggenheim Museum was in pristine condition. Not a single flower out of place or wilted. Fun stuff: there are some sparrows nesting in its head! They were flying in and out chirping away.
It was fantastic to see the building, and the fun well-researched installations outside, the Puppy, the Spider, the fog sculpture...But the most exciting thing for me was Joana Vasconcelos (Portuguese artist) installations inside the museum.
She also has an exhibition with some fun stuff, such as opening and closing flowers made of irons, a rotating pink gem made from plastic cutlery, a chandelier created from over twenty thousand tampons, a giant mask from mirrors, and a pair of shiny shoes from pots and lids... ceramic animals covered in crochet... Her imagination is boundless and attention to detail in her embroidery is mesmerising. She also has so much humour in her pieces, also pride in all things feminine.
A few of these pieces are featured in this one minute clip:
Sadly we didn't see the chicken, I don't know where that was?
This looked so impressive, I must say.
There was a woman next to me explaining the materials used in the chandelier to her 8 year old son, and as understanding dawned on his cute little face, it was priceless!
Amazing - I can't even begin to imagine how you decide you are going to make an installation on the scale of some of those. I didn't realise how big they were until I saw some people walking around. She uses some wonderfully vibrant colours and fringing. Did you get neck ache looking up? Her work looks such fun.
The chandelier is impressive it has to be said- regular pieces of cotton wool just the right shape eh? Somehow the fact that they are tampons make it more interesting.
Does she do all the threading/work herself or does she have help?
I still love the puppy though - I wonder how they keep it looking so pristine. Love the fact that the sparrows have made a claim!!!
I think there is an extensive watering system underneath those flowers...
And I wonder too about whether she has any assistants to help her thread and saw... it just seems impossible this is all one woman's work.
See if we can find some interviews...
I hope the fire sprinklers aren't activated in the tampon chandelier room!
I was going to suggest a thread but you've already thought of that--I am on the road but could start next week. Thank you for sharing this art in such a timely manner! Hope you're having a wonderful time
25 lashes with a wet tail. I've missed these amazing entries! Thanks so much ladies for being the conduit for these incredible works. I am enjoying every single thought and visual. The human race is an awesome thing - can we remember that every moment? Our capacity for a sideways grin or beauty is on full display here. Loving it so much and particularly that you all have seen some of it up close and personal.
I enjoy just been working on the Joana Vasconcelos thread and out of the blue this little beauty has cropped up amongst the images...
Weeping Girl by Laura Ford, 2006, at Jupiter Artland, near Edinburgh, Scotland
There are five little girls in the sculpture park, commissioned by Jupiter Artland.
As Ford writes on Jupiter Artland's website, “A friend of mine told me a story about a fantastic tantrum his daughter had had where she was inconsolable whilst at the same time watching herself and the effect she was having in the mirror.
“The site I have picked at Jupiter has a quiet melancholic atmosphere and I felt it was the perfect place to introduce some unnecessary drama in the style of the story above. What I have made for Jupiter are 5 little girls dressed up as sculptures in positions of high drama which animate the landscape they inhabit.”
Kate Toft visited Jupiter Artland back in 2011 and, upon seeing the statues, wrote this about her experience. “Although I love to look at sculpture, it doesn't often move me. An exception to this today was the group of sculptures called ‘Weeping Girls' by Laura Ford. I thought these were the best sculptures in the whole place – very sad and rather chilling, with such attention to detail in the hands and shoes, in a perfect setting in the deserted woodland.”
