What is it? It reminds me of an old and defunct boiler. Perhaps instead of melting it down, someone had the bright idea of painting it red and calling it art. If it is supposed to be some kind of statue, it fails miserably in my opinion. It looks like a piece of cast iron junk, tarted up with cheap paint. There are enough old boilers in Sheffield city centre as it is!

Its some sort of great artistic piece and we should be proud to have it in our city apparently. Will really turn the shoppers heads... one question: Where are the shops down there? :loopy:

I walked past it today and thought "Hmm someones left a boiler in the middle of the street.. how odd"

couldn't agree more. i saw them installing it - at the time i thought it had something to do with the building works going on round there and thought nothing of it until i saw it on the news.

Is there a pic somewhere on the net?

http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk/shared/display.asp?ID=417

this picture of it is inside. now its plonked on the pavement right outside the door.

oh crap. its gonna be there for 2 YEARS!

Thanks!

It's dull. I was expecting something interesting when you guys described it as a boiler :P




But I'm an engineer :D

I was waiting for this to come up on the forum.

So the 'lucky people of Sheffield' can admire it for 2 years! OMG!

:loopy:

2 years :gag:

Its Orrible.. take it away I tell you! :shakes:

stupid, how much did that 'cost'

I'm not too surprised at the reaction here ... I suppose that Sheffield's still on the cusp of being a post industrial city and these sorts of forms are too familar to us as being from a work enviroment.

There was a similar reaction to the sculpture proposed for the top of Fargate a few years ago ... described by some as coming straight from a back catalogue of Steel Peach & Tozer's drills ....

However, the fact of the matter is that Sheffield has received a tremendous accolade in being loaned this sculpture. In the big wide world outside the city, the Galleries and Museums Trust is very highly regarded and they work really really hard to bring the best exhibitions to us.

We may not like this item and we may prefer the Teemer and Ladler and the Walking Man, but it's a matter for congratulating ourselves that we've been offered this opportunity to have this sculpture in the city for two years.

Originally posted by AndrewC
stupid, how much did that 'cost'

Don't worry, you won't even notice the rise in Council tax and the likes :suspect:

What a waste of space :gag:

(sighs) it's not going to cost the council tax payers anything ... the Gallery is a Trust ... and the sculpture's been loaned to us ....

Oh puurleese!

Take a moment to have a look and a think and not just have a kneeJERK reaction.

I've not had time to have a good look yet, but I sorely miss any semblance of modern figurative or representative sculpture in Sheffield.

I'm utterly fed up of knives forks and spoons nailed to a gate passing as public art.

I saw this on the news and thought Hhmmm. Not my cup of tea but then I suppose it is art to some people and a monstrosity to others.However at least it's a piece of art I can go up and touch and fondle and is not hidden behind glass , you never know it might grow on me after all the sculpture at the bottom of the Moor has managed to do that though it took much longer than two years. You watch I'll just be starting to appreciate it and then it'll be taken away to be replaced with a larger than life statue of Tony Blair, [Hark can I hear the sound of screaming?]

Call me weird, but I quite like it! It's bright and it's certainly different,
though I have to admit that I'm not convinced it's in the right location.
It looks a bit cramped. (If you've seen Sir Anthony Caro's installations in the Sculpture Park then you'll know what I mean!)

But then I've been told on more than one occasion that I'm just a Philistine/troglodyte so what do I know?

Originally posted by rubydazzler
We may not like this item and we may prefer the Teemer and Ladler and the Walking Man, but it's a matter for congratulating ourselves that we've been offered this opportunity to have this sculpture in the city for two years.

What happened to Walking Man? Is he still about somewhere?

"The work has never been on display in Britain before"

Yeah, probably because no one else is daft enough to accept "His generous loan"!!!


"Anthony Caro was born in 1924 in New Malden, Surrey and is perhaps the most influential living British sculptor"

Oh dear, doesn;t say much for the rest of them.............

"he worked as assistant to Henry Moore"

Now theres a sculptor I do appreciate, his pieces on display at the yorkshire sculpture park are excellent. I am not an art freak and not that knowledgable on these things, I'm sure those of you that are will shoot me down in flames, but moore's work is flowing, clean and looks different from each side, is suggestive form rather than definitive, leaving more up to the imagination of the viewer.

The old boiler plonked in the middle in sheffield just does not do it for me, but each to their own i suppose...........

Walking man took a hike, thankfully. Used to look amusing though when saw him with fag dangling from mouth. Must have got bored & p****d off standing there all day & night in the cold, generaly been taken the p**s out of & generaly being disliked. Poor sod.

I quite like it, but then I like most modern art.

I like "old fashioned" art too BTW.

I disagree about the eyesore being bright - its dul, dull, dull l. It might have looked marginally better if it had been painted in bright racing colours - perhaps bright red, blue and yellow.

Someone in a previous post argues that we ought to feel privileged to have it. On the contrary, I think it is insulting that such an eyesore can be foisted on us, with the rationale that it is 'art'.

It iseems to be the case that public sculptures now have to have the following characteristics:

1. They have to be extremely ugly;

2. They have absolutely no connection to their surroundings;

3. No talent or skill is required in their conception or execution;

4. They are then rationalised as having some great symbolic significance, which eludes 99.99% of observers (talk about the king and his magic suit of clothes).

I will be taking some junk to the tip at the weekend. I wonder if I could instead pile it in the middle of Fargate, with a placard stating that it is a representation of the transience of all things?

To be honest, Anthony Caro's sculptures - at least, the work he's done since the sixties - rarely has 'huge symbolic significance'.

It is unashamedly abstract, about forms, shapes and colours and the ways they interact.

You really don't have to search for meaning in a piece like this. Just look at it. Give it a bit of time. Get used to it. Love it or loathe it.

Of course, you don't 'have' to do any of these things. I'm just meaning those people who are genuinely curious as to why Sir Anthony Caro IS regarded as Britain's greatest living sculptor.

It shows that, as an art form, modern sculpture has reached rock bottom. Until quite recently, modern 'serious' music was in the same state i.e. with a great swathe of atonal rubbish that no one wanted to listen to (and indeed was mostly unbearable to listen to). Now many 'serious' composers are writing stuff that people actually want to hear. Hopefully, modern sculpure might at some point move in the same direction.

Oh Dear :( :confused:
How can they call that thing exciting ?????

I have a defunct fridge in my back garden - if I throw a pot of paint at it they can have it, it's very 'EXCITING'.

Millenium galleries - bow your heads in shame, it's a pile of rubbish....get rid. :loopy:

I would be interested to know what all the people who don't like this sculpture would like to see in it's place.

Originally posted by nick2
I would be interested to know what all the people who don't like this sculpture would like to see in it's place.

Hows about a sculpture for starters.

Originally posted by Lestat
Hows about a sculpture for starters.

Like what ?
If you hate the one thats there you must know what you would like instead, unless your just slagging it off for the sake of slagging it off ?

It realy does look ''dull, dull, dull.''
Ok. though. But what is it suposed to represent & what sort of feeling is it meant to evoke? Please some one tell us '' stupid unsofisticated peasants'' what we are missing?

Even if say you dont like perhaps the statue of Vulcan on the town hall cupola at least, even from a distance you can appreciate who ever created it the skill required in making it.

But. As they say, '' I'me no expert,Er,,,,,,, like.''

Originally posted by Tim42
Please some one tell us '' stupid unsofisticated peasants'' what we are missing?


Your not missing anything what your doing is saying it's crap because you personally don't like it, if it had been made by a relative or friend of yours would you be slagging it off or would you appreciate that they might have put some time and effort into making it and be a bit more respectfull ?

It's abstract. It doesn't 'represent' anything. It's about forms, shapes and colour.

Only you can tell what feelings it invokes - though I think we've got the picture by now! ;)

But how has this person been lionised by the state in the form of a knight hood? Hoe do people make a respectful reputation & a VERY lucrative career as an ''artist''? I cant even draw a straight line, without the aid of a rule. I am artisticaly talantless admitedly. How can I break into this profitable sphere? I suspect the people who are engaged in this knows its crap. Is it a way of creating a false economy where by these things are produced, for nothing, then one art critic in London or Paris or New York praising this ''work of art'' saying its worth X amount of £ then the ball starts rolling. Lets face it how many times a millenia does a Great artis like Constable, Monet, Da Vinci or,,,,,wait for it a Caro, is that is name come along?

Originally posted by nick2
Like what ?
If you hate the one thats there you must know what you would like instead, unless your just slagging it off for the sake of slagging it off ?

Hi Nick2,

As I said before, I like henry moore's work on display at the yorkshire sculpture park.

Why? because I like the smooth texture, the rounded shapes, the way they catch the light differently depending on the weather. I like the touch of the cold stone. I like the organic type natural shapes. I like that the fact that when you read the title, you can sort of see where Henry Moore was coming from and link this with the representation before you. I like looking at the scupltures from different viewpoints with an open mind to see if I can see other likeness' within it.

I dont get any of this from the red thing, so unfortunately its not for me. Glad it didn't cost us anything as that would have upset me even more.

But I am only a passing viewer and not an intelligent art critic.

AND whatever you do, don;t get me started on tracy emin.....

Originally posted by Tim42
But how has this person been lionised by the state in the form of a knight hood? Hoe do people make a respectful reputation & a VERY lucrative career as an ''artist''? I cant even draw a straight line, without the aid of a rule. I am artisticaly talantless admitedly. How can I break into this profitable sphere?

The only way is, of course, to make some art.

Make something. Draw something. Paint something.

Show it to people. Put on an exhibition yourself if you have the get up and go to do it - there are enough empty buildings and warehouses around for people with the creative spark to get something done.

If you get a body of work together, you might consider art college, though it's not essential. And by showing your work wherever you get the chance, people might see it. And like it. And buy it. For better or worse, some buyers have more influence than others - just as if you were in a band and hundreds of people came to see you play in rooms above pubs, but only record company A&R guys would have the influence to offer you a significant deal.

For people who feel they HAVE to make art, there is always the possibility that they could make a living at it. For most, it remains a hobby. But the pre-requisite will always be that they make stuff in the first place.

Unless you do that, then no, you will never have a career as an artist. And I do get the feeling that you don't really want to do these things. :D

Originally posted by LoopyLou
AND whatever you do, don;t get me started on tracy emin.....

Interestingly, Tracey Emin has just this week unveiled a sculpture in front of Liverpool Cathedral which is calm, understated, and 100% figurative.

And that's provoked a pretty similar response.

So you can't really win!

http://www.arts.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/25/nemin25.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/25/ixhome.html

Originally posted by Tim42
Lets face it how many times a millenia does a Great artis like Constable, Monet, Da Vinci come along?

They had their fair share of critics in their time too.

Originally posted by Damon
Interestingly, Tracey Emin has just this week unveiled a sculpture in front of Liverpool Cathedral which is calm, understated, and 100% figurative.



Its a bird on a stick????????????????


And??????

He he... and Vulcan is a man on a roof! The Statue Of Liberty is a lass with a torch!

Originally posted by Damon
He he... and Vulcan is a man on a roof! The Statue Of Liberty is a lass with a torch!

and the Venus de Milo is some chunky bird with no arms.

Damon.
That was an excellent response. Thanks.
I was in Liverpool last year & this Danish or Swedish, cant remember, artist had an outside exhibition in front of The Liver buildings. It consisted of a construction of a house. The thing that everybody comented on was the proufound effect it had on them, me & my woman included. It was the colour. It was a Very intense luminous red. It had a considerable emmetic quality about it. Me & ma girl had been around Liverpool eating & drinking all day & viewed this work directly before boarding the ferry. Felt better out of the glare of the luminous red though even walking away from the house could feel the penetrating red glow on the back of my head. Ok on ferry though. Good job exhibition was not on the ferry.

If somebody went and painted Aurora blue, could we pass it off as Thomas the Tank Engine? (Not that I would ever condone such an act...)


Just out of interest, what do people think of the other pieces of artwork dotted around sheffield? Stainless steel spider anyone? What about the mural on the wall next to the Volvo dealer on Attercliffe Road?

Where, in Sheffield, would you like to see a piece of art? And what would you like to see?

Would it have been better to have a work by a Sheffield sculptor outside the Millennium Galleries? Or a few different works, changing every six months or so?

So many questions...

Cheers Tim, this is the sort of discussion I enjoy very much. I respect everyone's opinions on matters like this - the responses are very personal, and if artists are going to put their work on public show like this, they've got to take it on the chin.

But I do like to make sure that the... um... 'less popular' view does get an airing!

(I saw the red house in front of the Liver Building too. It was best viewed from a distance I thought - the vivid colour against the white portland stone was pretty impressive, but close up, it was the stench of gloss paint that seemed to dominate!)

So you saw it as well. Who & where was the artist from. It was in seriousness an interesting work. We kept a bleary eye on it going both ways across the Mersey. I would like to look this up on the web.
Thanks Dameon

Tim - go here for info about the red house:

http://www.biennial.org.uk/artists/Peter%20Johannson/project.htm

And here for a couple of images:

http://www.biennial.org.uk/artists/Peter%20Johannson/gallery.htm

Hope you find it interesting.

We should be honoured to have such a monumental piece by one of the fathers of modern sculpture Anthony Caro. The juxtopositioning of planes and lines, breaking the boundries between viewer and sculpture by removal of plinth and anthropormorphism ahh its so revolutionary, what a genius!

Really though Its not my cup of tea, but I appreciate what he tries to say about what sculpture can be through his work. :thumbsup:

Sticking a "gully cleaner" in the middle of an Industrial city like Sheffield is like sticking a lump of coal in Barnsley,
another load of scrap like the one near Wicker Arches,

is it another favour for the boys.

Originally posted by feargal
What happened to Walking Man? Is he still about somewhere?

the Walking Man went on a walking tour around the country, but he did return to his native Sheffield. :)

Last seen hiding out around the corner from the "old boiler", he's in the little garden at the side of the balcony of the Millennium Gallery ... or he was last time I looked ...

At the risk of being called ignorant - I don't believe it can be justified as 'art'.
It's a boiler.
Painted red.
How inspiring.

I think it's great, and I can't understand the response of people here. Fair enough if you don't like it, but some of you are reacting as if it had been forcibly installed up your own rectum.

I'm curious as to how you can think it is 'great'.

There are many things which i do not like but which I can nevertheless appreciate how they may appeal to others.

Similarly, there are many things which I do not like but which I can nevertheless appreciate that they are the product of great skill and rare talent.


This falls into neither category. It is as banal as it is ugly

I'm all for modern (and not so modern) art. I can live with Barbara Hepworth sculptor and a lot of the other stuff that's around.

Personally I don't like this big red thing. I don't like the fact that it is bright red, i don't like the fact it looks like some kind of engine reject.

It may be a great work of art - but the responses on here don't seem to be in favour of it (with the odd exception of course).

If it was something produced by local school children then I think I would not mind it so much. I would like to see more art and sculpture around. And I don't mind that some of it won't be to my taste. It would be great if we could change the display every 6 months, knowing something isn't going to be there for very long would make it more of a 'have to see' than knowing something is going to be there for 2 years. So why did he choose Sheffield? Did he think the history of steel and manufacturing would lend itself to this 'item'?

I came across this object yesterday, and was confused and curious. I thought it was a fan unit to be installed in the millenneum gallery, but after walking around it a couple of times I realised it was art, because there were no connections on it.

It would have helped me if there would have been a notice or plaque explaining that it is art, and any significance which the artist want's viewers to think about when contemplating the object.

I have been to London to see modern and conceptual art in the galleries there, and the guide to each installation is usually very helpful.

When I look back on the experience It was fun to be confronted with this huge object unexpectedly, but it would be nice to see an explanation nearby.

Its interesting that the original title of this thread was changed from 'Red monstrosity' to 'Sculpture'.

Still, I suppose a rose is a rose by any other name - but a rose this ain't., Its an eyesore. Far from enhancing the forntage of the Millennium galleries, its more like a turd on the piazza.

Someone asked in an earlier post why it has generated so much hostility. I can naturally only speak for myself, but I think it is because Sheffield deserves better. We don't have many (any?) pieces of outstanding sculpture and i think we deserve something better than this ugly and banal piece of pretentious junk

As we're all entitled to our opinions on here..........here's mine.

It's a heap of red metal, badly painted at that. There's a Ford Orion on our street that is a heap of metal, badly painted red as well.

It looks like nothing other than a propane tank with bits welded on. As this ISN'T what it's supposed to be, then what the hell is it?

If it needs a label to explain what it's meant to be, then it is crap because of that. If it is meant to signify something different in everybody's eyes, then it is no better than the pile of junk in any scrapyard.

Funny thing is, whenever anyone dumps a heap of old scrap like that on our estate, the police have it towed away.

Woops!!! I've just dropped my yoghurt on one of my trainers. Anyone know where I can exhibit it........and get a knighthood?

That's my opinion based on my love of 'art'.

PS

Once saw a 'piece of art' inside the galleries whereby some numpty had thrown an orange-dyed snowball at a piece of paper, and let it melt down the paper leaving a pattern. TOSH!!!!

the Galleries and Museums Trust is very highly regarded and they work really really hard to bring the best exhibitions to us.

I can imagine the sweat running down their brows,
and forming multi irregular shaped patterns on the floor now that would be Art:rolleyes:

I passed that red lump of metal and thought what a pile of crap....I thought they were cleaning the city up not using it as a dump

Hope someone doesn't call streetforce to get it removed thinking it's been dumped there by someone. I haven't seen it it detail, just passed it on the bus. I will not comment on it just yet but I don't think it's in a prominent location, only students and people coming to work from the train station will see it. Will have a look at it soon, not like it's going anywhere soon.

Originally posted by duffman
I will not comment on it just yet but I don't think it's in a prominent location, only students and people coming to work from the train station will see it.

You're right there duffman.

Should be in the canal where the fish can see it :thumbsup:

What Sheffield needs is a sulpture like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger/1579069/in/set-40391/

Originally posted by Roger_B
What Sheffield needs is a sulpture like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger/1579069/in/set-40391/

The statue...YES! Now that IS art. Someone put some effort into making that.:thumbsup:

The traffic cone? Well, yes. At least it needs no explanation!

The scarf? Maybe better in red and white.;)

Originally posted by Roger_B
What Sheffield needs is a sulpture like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger/1579069/in/set-40391/

Ah yes there is a similar statue in a park by the University hall of residence in Glasgow dressed in the same attire. The police can not remove the cone or scarf as it is freedom of speech or something. My best mate was at Galsgow uni and told me this when I visited him

I think the traffic cone adds a great deal to the artistic value of the statue. ;-)

Maybe if someone paints red stripes on the red turdy thing then it might resemble half of a giant cone! . . . or maybe not. :? :blush:

I'm afraid my reaction is also rather negative, I must admit my first thought was along the "propane tank" lines, though I can see that as an abstract it says something about the relationship of different sized cylinders. I'm taking a different tack, though, by asking, if there was any idea that this was first destined for Sheffield, whether any of it used any product of Sheffield, like the steel or the paint. It would be something if public art in the city actually used the skills and materials still here and traditionally associated with the industrial heritage of the place. I'm thinking, for instance, of the restoration currently going on in the General Cemetery in Sharrow, which deliberately, as far as possible, used local materials and craftspeople. The result shows that fine work can still be done here.

Art is in the eye of the beholder and as such to stimulate discussion. This certainly has achieved that and as such is art.

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
Art is in the eye of the beholder and as such to stimulate discussion. This certainly has achieved that and as such is art.

There's another thread on here somewhere that triggered stimulated discussion .......it's about dog muck.

Therefore, if the heap of junk outside the galleries is art because of discussion, so is dog ****!!

Red metal scrap heap = dog ****.

Logical really;)

Sheffield has some of the most dreadful public art in the country and this fits in very well with the rest of the crud we seem to have aquired over the years.

The official name of the red turd on the piazza is 'Aurora'.

In Roman mythology, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn, and the name is usually used as a symbol for light and brightness. Light and bright it aint - its dull, dull, dull.

It was actually made in Caro's studios in London and as far as I know has no connection with Sheffield. Perhaps Sheffield's good fortune in acquiring it is of the same order as its good fortune in acquiring the student games.

I actually went to the trouble of making a detour last time i was in the city centre to have a closer look at this 'thing'???
Firstly I was surprised as it's not very big and I stood gazing at it for a minute trying to understand the name it's been given. Nope I gave up the name doesn't seem at all suitable.
Still you never know it might grow on me but at the moment first impressions would have to be 'rubbish' and 'junk'.

There is a report in today's TImes about the ugliest car ever built. Its name? Aurora.

The official name of the ugliest statue in Sheffield? Aurora.

Coincidence or what?

Originally posted by alex3horse
. The juxtopositioning of planes and lines, breaking the boundries between viewer and sculpture by removal of plinth and anthropormorphism ahh its so revolutionary, what a genius!

Come clean Alex, you've been reading the Arthur Dent critique of Vogon poetry haven't you?:thumbsup:

This reminds me of when Blackadder says :

"To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was something that just happened to other people."

perhaps he should have said

"To Sheffielders, the 21st Century was something that just happened to other people."

We walked past this 'sculpture' the other evening, at the time we were admiring the lovely, illuminated tree's to our left, noting how they reminded us of our Bonsai...

Then we turned to our right and my BF (who isn't from Sheffield) asked me what it was, and I just assumed it was something left over from the Steel Works, like a boiler or something, and said so.

I've just read the link right at the beginning of this thread and the council do amuse me so, do you think they're chuckling to one another as they write such articles?

He's used a couple of different shades of red to paint it....Genius :loopy:

I do sometimes wonder where the 'art' in artist has gone, You look back at these great painters, sculptures, even muscicians, authors etc....and the only excuse modern equivalents seem to hide behind for having no quality is that it is ' new & original'

If I want to look and admire the engineering that has gone into a boiler, i'll go to Kelham Island,

My two penneth :)

Originally posted by nick2
This reminds me of when Blackadder says :

"To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was something that just happened to other people."

perhaps he should have said

"To Sheffielders, the 21st Century was something that just happened to other people."

But we had scrap heaps in the 20th Century as well, didn't we?

no, they were post-modernistic hetro-culdisac phlangenism habitats


or Hyde Park as it's more lovingly known

It's the worst thing I've ever seen, plus whats with the naked man in the glass facade above the entrance?
- he has a very elongated ball.

It's more than likely to be a piece of water sewer pipe, it'll soon go where it's intended and go underground never to be seen again, why pain't it red if it's going to evacuate all our bodily fluids though ?

Mmmmh, it's probably some art crap knowing the usual, well crap there is in the Sh1itelium Galleries/Greenhouse.

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
Art is in the eye of the beholder and as such to stimulate discussion. This certainly has achieved that and as such is art. Yeh, and bad transport, First, Strikes, Subway, the greenhouse also make us talk about, they ain't art though are they ?

Speaking as a former art student, we were taught that Art is a personal thing. How you feel about the sculpture personally is what it stands for. ...
...And its got you talking about it..so it must be intresting you.!

Thats what "Art" means.


:clap:

Originally posted by cruella
Speaking as a former art student, we were taught that Art is a personal thing. How you feel about the sculpture personally is what it stands for. ...
...And its got you talking about it..so it must be intresting you.!

Thats what "Art" means.


:clap:

It must mean more than this, otherwise western civilization has been wasting its time for the last three millennia

Does anybody know what the red pile of scrap metal outside the millenium galleries is supposed to be?

It is actually supposed to be a work of art, a piece of sculture, by some artist whose name escapes me at the moment. I'm sure we could all turn out this kind of artwork, but unless you are a recognised artist (and anything you produce is classed as art), your work would be craned onto the back of a low loader and dispatched to the nearest scrapyard.

A friend of mine who came back from Sheffield after studying in Paris for the last year saw it and was suitibly unimpressed, ranting for about five minutes how sheffield doesn't have any decent artists. I was going to put Joe Scarborough as a case in point, but he has been spoilt with Monet, Picasso and Van Gough for the past year:rolleyes:

A friend of mine who came back from Sheffield after studying in Paris for the last year saw it and was suitibly unimpressed, ranting for about five minutes how sheffield doesn't have any decent artists. I was going to put Joe Scarborough as a case in point, but he has been spoilt with Monet, Picasso and Van Gough for the past year:rolleyes:

Isn't Picasso Spanish and Van Gough Dutch?

http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/sheffield/caro422.html

According to that page, it should have gone by now!

http://www.anthonycaro.org/default.htm

Isn't Picasso Spanish and Van Gough Dutch?

Indeed they are, however examples of their work can be found in some of the larger parisian galleries.

There was along thread about it a while ago, try a search.

The artist should be slapped for making that scrap pile what a clown its just a load of crap welded together . And its stupid stuff like this that wastes our time and money :mad:

dont worry, with the recent spate of metal thefts across the cirt, it should be gone by the morning!

Its by the very very famous British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro so it must be good ..

I note that Mr Caro doesn't mention this particular piece on the front end of his website.

I note that Mr Caro doesn't mention this particular piece on the front end of his website.

What's that got to do with anything? The front page has a picture of one work (in New York) (link (http://www.anthonycaro.org/default.htm)). The Sheffield sculpture is listed under collections - it's called Aurora. There's a picture of it half-made and unpainted.

I don't think much of it either :hihi:, or most of the stuff on his site. I quite like this piece (http://www.anthonycaro.org/Large-Pics/2735.jpg).

Even though I don't find Aurora inspiring, I am glad it is there, as a talking point, as an artistic statement that some people may loathe and others may love.

God help us if public art was all as cutesy and cosy and plain boring as Joe Scarborough's.

Hugh

I'm with you all the way there and I rather like some of his work but this piece leaves me feeling just like Aurora... left out in the cold.

Even though I don't find Aurora inspiring, I am glad it is there, as a talking point, as an artistic statement that some people may loathe and others may love.


Since when has a heap of junk metal dumped by the side of the road been a talking point - other than people saying "what's that pile of junk doing there?"


If people need to be told that it's a "work of art" ... then it isn't.

I feel I must point out that when people hate contemporary art then mention Van Gogh, the Impressionists, etc as 'good' art, they don't seem to understand that at the time those painters developed their trademark style, their work was every bit as controversial and hated as the contemporary artists they dismiss. Those posters would likely have been just as distainful of what was new and different then as they are now.

Having said that, I was very disappointed when Aurora appeared, as I'd been to a fantastic Caro exhibition at YSP not long before. I think in a city as hostile and conservative as Sheffield it's a waste putting anything on public display that hasn't got a more obviously accessible element to it. Many of the Caro pieces at YSP had a more traditional aesthetic form, that people would be more likely to just like the look of rather than be baffled by, and I wish something more like that had been chosen for the pavement on Arundel Gate.

I feel I must point out that when people hate contemporary art then mention Van Gogh, the Impressionists, etc as 'good' art, they don't seem to understand that at the time those painters developed their trademark style, their work was every bit as controversial and hated as the contemporary artists they dismiss. Those posters would likely have been just as distainful of what was new and different then as they are now.


If I'd never seen a Van Gogh before in my life, and someone stuck one on a wall in the city centre, I'd know it was a painting. I might think it's a crap painting, but I'd still know what it was.

Nobody knows "Aurora" is a work of art until they've been told. That's proof that it isn't one.

Nobody knows "Aurora" is a work of art until they've been told.

I guessed it was a piece of art, it's outside an art gallery, it's obviously there on purpose, and it's obviously been made by someone to look like that.

It's symbolic of what's happened to Sheffield's steel and engineering industry.

...Many of the Caro pieces at YSP had a more traditional aesthetic form...

Purdyamos - can you suggest one or two of the works from the Caro website (link in my last message) which have that sort of form? My problem with what I can see there (and admittedly I've seen very little 'in the flesh') is that most of it has the same lack of imagination and depth as Aurora.

Hugh

Since when has a heap of junk metal dumped by the side of the road been a talking point

Talking about it is what we are doing :huh:

If people need to be told that it's a "work of art" ... then it isn't.

Maybe 'people' aren't as unanimous as you think. :D

Hugh

Fail to see what all the fuss is about - to me the 'scuplture' is a simple caricature of a steam engine. Perhaps others see it differently ?

Compare this Aurora with the sculpture on the Moor outside the DFES (or whatever it's called this week). Now that's an eyesore. I hope that people were as offended by that in the 70's (?) as some of you lot are today!

Compare this Aurora with the sculpture on the Moor outside the DFES (or whatever it's called this week). Now that's an eyesore. I hope that people were as offended by that in the 70's (?) as some of you lot are today!

It wasn't so bad when it was a kind of fountain, with water playing down the blades.

It must be solid bronze--I'm surprised it hasn't been nicked for scrap metal by now!

It wasn't so bad when it was a kind of fountain, with water playing down the blades.


It winter it was covered in huge icicles, it looked realy good.

It winter it was covered in huge icicles, it looked realy good.

That's true, I remember that!

It's relatively inoffensive, that's about the best one can say of it

It wasn't so bad when it was a kind of fountain, with water playing down the blades.

I didn't know that it used to be a water feature. Maybe it can be plumbed back into Sheffield's ever expanding system of water feature?

The ones they're currently building on Devonshire Green look a bit odd mind.

What's that got to do with anything? The front page has a picture of one work (in New York) (link (http://www.anthonycaro.org/default.htm)). The Sheffield sculpture is listed under collections - it's called Aurora. There's a picture of it half-made and unpainted.

I don't think much of it either :hihi:, or most of the stuff on his site. I quite like this piece (http://www.anthonycaro.org/Large-Pics/2735.jpg).

Even though I don't find Aurora inspiring, I am glad it is there, as a talking point, as an artistic statement that some people may loathe and others may love.

God help us if public art was all as cutesy and cosy and plain boring as Joe Scarborough's.

Hugh

That piece in your link looks uncannily like an old Eltex greenhouse heater, perhaps I could paint mine yellow and sell it off as art.

The ones they're currently building on Devonshire Green look a bit odd mind.

The shapes of the "features" in Devonshire Green reminds me of Antoni Gaudí buildings, if they were covered in mosaic they would look stunning.

http://www.berezin.com/3d/images/101.jpg

There is a little water feature next Hallam university that is very Gaudi-esque too.