Thursday 11 August 2011

Inside with Jaume Plensa


Way back in the middle of last month, I met up with Bev in Yorkshire for a small cultural top up at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. As is usual, we walked too far and got sore feet, but it started of gently with a wonderful exhibition from Jaume Plensa. All quite close together and both inside and out. This blog is my three favorite parts of the inside exhibition - I'm sure the outside stuff will get mentioned later.

This part of the gallery is set out as a number of rooms leading off this corridor. Mr Plensa had made a long curtain of steel letters to run along the corridor. He calls it 29 Palms as the letters spell out 29 passages from his favorite poets. Bev spotted that it began and ended with Macbeth.



Eleven giant alabaster heads fill one of the rooms - slightly elongated and standing about 6 feet tall. The room was very quiet when we arrived here, peaceful and mesmerising things they were. Though there is nobody in my pictures of them, we were allowed to walk amongst them.





Out in the corridor again. There was a sign at the beginning ot the exhibition which said, "do not touch, only caress."


The last room was "Jerusalem", a number of gongs hanging  from the ceiling and each engraved with part of the song of Soloman (thank you - you don't think I spotted that one myself). We were encouraged to strike the gongs gently, listen to the sound grow and fade. Each gong had a distinctly different character.





Back in the corridor at the other end of the curtain just in time to see a herd of school children arriving from the opposite direction. They were delighted by the gongs and were paying little attention to the gentle part of proceedings. Within minutes the attendant in that room had emerged and was calling for help from his collegue - poor lad, he was absolutely out of his depth. I think we probably saw this part just at the right time.


9 comments:

Sultan said...

Wow, very cool.

Shundo said...

This seems like a really well put-together show - tactile, audible, full of interesting shapes and moods.

Sandy's witterings said...

Thanks Laoch

Shundo, we were asked not to touch the alabaster heads - they're a bit delicate - but everything else was alright. There was a nice contrast with the tinkley letter curtain and the gongs.

Zia Wolf-Sun said...

Amazing place! That letter curtain is really something else too ;)

Sandy's witterings said...

Thank you - the letter curtain was quite wonderful - I wonder if it was made for this exhibition or has appeared in lots of places.

Becky said...

I love 29 Palms, which seem to be the low tech equivalent to Jenny Holzer.

Sandy's witterings said...

Thanks Becky (and for all your other comments). I've just been to look Ms Holzer up and there is the same air about her as Mr Plensa.

For everyone elses benefit
http://www.ueltzhoeffer.de/JENNY-HOLZER-UELTZHOEFFER.html

Anonymous said...

that's me walking down the concourse

Sandy's witterings said...

Well spotted John - I appeared in somebody elses blog once by complete accident too, not, I should say, in such cultured circumstances.

Living in Barnsley leaves you very convenient for trips to the Yorkshire sculpture park - you must see everything here.