An artwork entitled Gold Leaf: Buried Sunlight by Dundee-based artists Dalziel + Scullion has been installed at Pooley Country Park, in Polesworth in Warwickshire. The park is located on the former Pooley Hall Colliery site, which is visible from the M42.
The work was officially unveiled on 30 September, and was part of a plan to regenerate the area through funding from the Homes and Communities Agency through their National Coalfields programme, and delivered by Warwickshire County Council.
The work is designed to complement the other site improvements, including a spiral path up the spoil heap.The ‘golden tower of leaves’ was selected as it is an idea with depth and relevance to the formation of the park. The Birch leaf is synonymous with Pooley, as Birch trees were one of the first species to recolonise the disturbed ground following the closure of the colliery.
The artwork has received some criticism in the national press (albeit in the Sunday Express and Daily Mail) for being commissioned at a time when the local authority have announced a 3-year programme to cut costs by £21m. In reality it was probably commissioned well before the cuts were even being thought about, and as is usually the case, as funding is not transferable, it is not as though a library could have been saved from closure instead....
To read the article on Warwickshire County Council's website, visit:
To read the Daily Mail's drubbing of the artwork, visit:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053362/Cash-strapped-council-erects-100-000-golden-monstrosity-monument-nature-reserve.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053362/Cash-strapped-council-erects-100-000-golden-monstrosity-monument-nature-reserve.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBB8e_t9KYI&feature=player_embedded
No comments:
Post a Comment