Another Place

[poliphilo]

It was a lovely, sunny day- so we went to the seaside.

I almost packed a bucket and spade- we do have a set- but what with the picnic basket and Ailz's bag of books- for revision, you know- I thought we were carrying enough baggage.

We're about thirty miles from the West coast.  I don't know why, but we go there very seldom. Maybe it's because we're Mancunians- and Liverpool- Queen of the West Coast- is a rival city state- hostile territory.  Or maybe it's because we used to belong to a coven in Fleetwood and got sick of making the journey home in the early hours of the morning.

The West coast can be bleak. Our High Priestess- who was a Devon lass- hated it, and ran back down south as soon as an opportunity presented itself. But it's a kind of bleak I like- shining sands as far as the eye can see, the rain blowing in off the Irish Sea....

But yesterday it wasn't bleak at all. We went to Crosby. Crosby is- or used to be- a well-kept secret: miles of sandy beaches fringed by the villas of the Liverpool elite. It's less secret now- because of a quite remarkable artwork- Anthony Gormley's Another Place.

It consists of a hundred, life-size, iron men- dotted about- all gazing in the same direction. They were concieved as a peripatetic installation- and guested at a couple of places on the continent before ending up on Crosby sands, where they stare out to sea and are- all of them- completely submerged at high tide.  They caused such a stir- and became so beloved- that the local Council eventually stumped up a million quid and bought them. So now they're fixed here in perpetuity- or until the sea eats them up.

Gormley also created Gateshead's iconic Angel of the North- so that's two obscure corners of the UK he's turned into sites of pilgrimage. I can't think of any artist in British history who has achieved anything comparable.

The tide goes out very far and comes in very fast. It was close to high tide when we arrived, so only a handful of the men were visible.  I believe the ones that are very far-out have been well encrusted with marine life. The ones at the top of the beach are merely green and scaly. "Oh look, " says the very small boy, "I can see his willy!"

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

What great photos! I've seen pictures of one of those iron men before, but didn't know there were hundreds of them. I am amused that the small boy is clutching his own willy as he points to the iron man's equivalent. And love the Art Deco hotel (is it?) in the penultimate picture. I feel sure Poirot will wander into view at any minute!

[frumiousb.livejournal.com]

that's really lovely. I'd love to see those men in person.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I like these for the same reason I like Andy Goldsworthy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy). The fact that the installation subject to the vicissitudes of nature, that each of these men is buried at high tide, is so perfect. (Though it must make it hard on the lifeguards.:))

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

I didn't realise there were either so many of them or that they were now sited in just the one place. I remember Private Eye doing a series of cartoons placing the men in ever-increasing places that would cause confusion and discomfort. On the edge of the cliff at Beachy Head being one of them.

Great art! :)

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting and it must cause an impression to see them swallowed up at high tide. Do people stay to watch that?
The photo of teh little boy pointing is wonderful.
:)

[sovay]

So now they're fixed here in perpetuity- or until the sea eats them up.

Those are wonderfully strange. I'd love to see the rest at low tide.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

The second photo with the little boy is priceless!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

That's a priceless shot of the boy pointing while holding his own crotch. Delightful!

My mother taught art, and she sighed every year during art history when she brought out Venus Emerging, because the boys would snicker and point.

[momof2girls.livejournal.com]

Love the picture with the little boy!

[sina-says.livejournal.com]

i can't believe i've never heard of these. they're so evocative. and... sad, somehow.