Saturday, April 2, 2016

Another Place



On the recommendation of my fellow bloggers Mr. Pudding and John from Wales, I went to see Sir Antony Gormley's sculpture installation "Another Place" on Crosby Beach, northwest of Liverpool.


The installation consists of 100 cast-iron replicas of Gormley's own body, spread out over two miles of beach, all gazing out to sea.


Some of them are quite far out in the water; I think I was there at a relatively low tide, based on the barnacles I saw on some of the statues, and I could see only see the heads and shoulders of those farthest out. This one made a good perch for a cold crow.


I got to Crosby Beach by train from Liverpool -- it only took 15 or 20 minutes, I think. Well worth it to experience this mysterious creation.


This fellow was obviously headed off to work.


I walked up and down the beach, which was littered with razor clams. At one point I tried to walk out to see one of the distant statues...


...and I stepped into some deceptively soft mud. I turned right around, but...my work shoes!!

(I thought they were ruined, but I just waited for the mud to dry a bit and wiped off what I could. Then I bought a brush at Poundland and, when they were completely dry, brushed the rest away. Good as new!)


Anyway, it was an interesting visit! After I made my way back to Liverpool, I had lunch at Moose Coffee (Canadian/American coffee and food -- I had a reuben!) and then caught my train for London.

This morning, back to the grind -- my last French class of the term!

14 comments:

Mwa said...

Do you get midterms then or is it the end of the year?

Yorkshire Pudding said...

The lighting looked challenging at Crosby but at least the tide was out. I guess the photos you have shared with your adoring public are just a sample. How many shots did you take of the men of steel?

Unknown said...

Very dreamlike. The patina on that cast iron is reminiscent of my own skin after a Canadian winter. Will they stay there forever? Or will the installation be uninstalled one day? And are those Clark's you're wearing?

-invisigal

Marty said...

Brrr! Those statues look chilly!

Ms. Moon said...

How eerie. I think they would be eerie even on a sunny day.

Red said...

Well , this is an absolutely weird art project, but I can see what he is trying to say. Yes, I'd go and see it too.

Sharon said...

What an interesting experience. I do love Anthony Gormley's statues. I saw a bunch of them in San Gimignano four years ago on my trip to Italy. I did a post on my travel site about them: http://sharonssojourns.blogspot.com/2014/07/art-in-streets.html
I love that first shot where you can see them all scattered out on the beach and into the ocean. And the one with the bird on his head is also great. The hard hat is pretty clever too. I'm glad the shoes could be saved.

e said...

I loved this...and the fact that you salvaged your foot wear!

jenny_o said...

I'm glad you went and took photos to share with us. This is a moving, chilling (to me) installation. Well worth seeing for myself if I ever make it across the ocean! Glad your shoes recovered :)

RedPat said...

It will be one of my lasting memories - the day I went there. Super shots!

ellen abbott said...

eerie and mysterious. I wonder how many will survive 1,000 years from now and have archeologists' heads wondering what it all meant. and those shoes? they look comfortable but kinda ugly.

The Bug said...

Fascinating - and I want to know what those circles are on the statues' butts :)

37paddington said...

Interesting statues. I wonder how he made them?

Elizabeth said...

Wow. I love these -- just incredible looking. Thanks for sharing.