Victory in a bottle
While we're on the subject of art, this from Jonathan Jones On Art blog in today's Guardian...
A shipshape sculpture for Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth
I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I'm getting quite excited about the unveiling of the next public sculpture on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. Yinka Shonibare's work, Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, will be revealed on 24 May 2010. It will be what it says on the bottle: a scale replica of HMS Victory, with African textiles for sails, in a huge ... bottle.
Uniquely of all the conceptual works devised for the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square, this one refers to the name of the square, the man on the column at its centre, and the history this grand public space actually commemorates.
Shonibare is to be commended for actually inviting people to consider the Battle of Trafalgar, the British navy, the Napoleonic wars and all that other old stuff which this square is supposed to remember.
It's also worth reading some of the comments which, in typical Guardian fashion range from:
The bottle should be filled with rum, with a dripfeed for partygoers
Shonibare's work always seems to be sympathetic and understanding of it's environment.
This looks to be a bright, fun, accessible idea from Shonibare. Tourists will love it, kids will love it, your granny will love it. Both a gentle critique of imperialism and a good-natured celebration of multi-culturalism in the heart of London, you'd be pretty mean-spirited not to warm to it. There's just one problem. There's no aesthetic content. As spectacle it's fine, and hopefully will share some of the fun and exuberance of the Sultan's Elephant from a few years ago. But as art it's hackneyed, trite, laboured stuff with nothing to say about Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar other than the questionable idea that his victory encouraged the British Empire and therefore colonialism. It's also horribly repetitive of all his other work.
Aye well, you can please some of the people...
A shipshape sculpture for Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth
I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I'm getting quite excited about the unveiling of the next public sculpture on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. Yinka Shonibare's work, Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, will be revealed on 24 May 2010. It will be what it says on the bottle: a scale replica of HMS Victory, with African textiles for sails, in a huge ... bottle.
Uniquely of all the conceptual works devised for the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square, this one refers to the name of the square, the man on the column at its centre, and the history this grand public space actually commemorates.
Shonibare is to be commended for actually inviting people to consider the Battle of Trafalgar, the British navy, the Napoleonic wars and all that other old stuff which this square is supposed to remember.
It's also worth reading some of the comments which, in typical Guardian fashion range from:
The bottle should be filled with rum, with a dripfeed for partygoers
Shonibare's work always seems to be sympathetic and understanding of it's environment.
This looks to be a bright, fun, accessible idea from Shonibare. Tourists will love it, kids will love it, your granny will love it. Both a gentle critique of imperialism and a good-natured celebration of multi-culturalism in the heart of London, you'd be pretty mean-spirited not to warm to it. There's just one problem. There's no aesthetic content. As spectacle it's fine, and hopefully will share some of the fun and exuberance of the Sultan's Elephant from a few years ago. But as art it's hackneyed, trite, laboured stuff with nothing to say about Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar other than the questionable idea that his victory encouraged the British Empire and therefore colonialism. It's also horribly repetitive of all his other work.
Aye well, you can please some of the people...