Sculpture trail

For our public art Unit we went on the Cambridge Sculpture Trail. To help us explore and develop our understanding of public art. The first sculpture we visited was the ‘Doors of the Guildhall’ which was a bronze series of panels set into the doors. The sculpture was commissioned by C A Cowls Voyesy and consists of ten panels on the doors of the Guildhall and depicts scenes from rural life of that time. The plinths on either side of the entrance include seahorses which also feature in the Cambridge city coat of arms. They were designed by Lawrence Bradshaw in 1933.

The second sculpture we visited was in Guildhall Street. Talos was the guardian of Minoen Crete. He was the giant man of bronze who protected Europa in Crete. Micheal Ayrton depicted this man without arms to show the anger and bewilderment felt by many of the post-war generation British sculptors. This sculpture was erected on the completion of the Lion Yard and Fisher House in 1973. I personally liked this sculpture because it is abstract and quite gothic by nature. The way it loosely depicts a male figure but is quite a rigid piece, the use of jagged edges shows this anger and strength. 

The next sculpture we visited is a very contemporary piece and is more modern then the previous sculptures visited. It is a new piece of public art and was carved from a granite glacial boulder. This sculpture is very obviously a piece designed by Peter Randall-Page because of his recognisable style. He has undertaken numerous large scale commissions and exhibited widely and is known for his abstract, geometric forms carved in stone. Although his style is very contemporary his work can still obviously be derived from natural forms and shows this link between the stone of the surrounding area and the undulating form of the sculpture. It brings an element of natural forms into this area which is surrounded by developed, man made sculptures. I think Peter Randall-Page has inked the two in an interesting and visually pleasing way.

Next we visited the famous ‘Corpus Clock’ which was made in 2008 by John Taylor and Mathew Lane Sanderson. There are always crowds standing outside this gold plated mechanical clock. The mechanism is driven by a large and slightly demonic looking grasshopper. LEDs light up to tell the time in a completely different and innovative way. It is a very modern piece using movement and light. While taking pictures of the sculpture. While i was observing and photographing the sculpture i noticed that the small crowd surrounding the sculpture had very mixed views. I heard one person say that it was 'offensive and awful' and another said they 'liked it'. I agree that it is an interesting and strange sculpture, because it is unlike any other sculpture i have seen. I dislike the use of gold and blue lights because i think it makes it look tacky. Even from a distance it is very noticeable because of this. The fact that it does not fit in with its surroundings could be thought of as an asset because it draws attention to the piece. However it could be thought of as a negative as part of public art is responding to the environment and surroundings. 

Eric Gill carved the next sculpture we visited in 1933. It is called the ‘Cavendish Crocodile’ and has been engraved into brick wall on the Mond Building on Free School Lane. Eric Gill worked as a stone mason and the crocodile is meant to reflect the nickname of the Physicist Lord Rutherford who is meant to be the father of nuclear physics. This piece was fairly hidden and required time finding it. Once found my immediate response was to dislike the sculpture positioned above my head on this hidden wall. I disliked it's childlike simplicity and  stiffness and lack of movement. However it has a level of intricacy with the use of darker shading and relief. 

Antony Gormley created the next sculpture which shows two feet in cast iron into the pavement at the entrance to Downing Site. This was meant to be an upside down human figure buried into the ground with just his feet sticking upwards. You would not really know this if this was not written down as it looks more like a pair of footprints in the stone. It was installed in 2002 and is titled ‘Earthbound: Plant’. This reflects Gormley’s fascination with the human body. The small sculpture is hard to find because of its scale and subtleness. It blends into its surroundings almost seamlessly until you suddenly notice the sculpture below your feet and then it becomes an interesting piece to then study and observe. 

Finally we visited the ‘Bears’ outside the Sedwick Museum of Earth Sciences on Downing Street not far from the Gormley installation. These fit into the curved stair that take you to the museum entrance. These look like they have been carved into the stair from hundreds of years ago but in fact they were created in 1904 although the sculptor is unknown. They seemed more part of the staircase rather than a stand-alone sculpture. They seemed quite traditional but were nicely made and very realistic.