Antony Gormley: Unifying Art and the Human Body
Contemporary artist, Antony Gormley has redefined the correlation between art and the human body within the last 25 years as he “…revitalized the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation”(“Antony Gormley”) . Born on August 30, 1950 in London, England, Gormley was raised in a wealthy household as one of six children. He has always been an academically driven student with initial schooling at Ampleforth College and continuing to Trinity College, where he received a degree in Archaeology, Anthropology and the History of Art during the years of 1968 and 1971. Gormley’s true passion for art initiated after spending three years traveling around India and Sri Lanka where he had the pleasure of studying the ancient teachings of Buddhism. With his new found love for art, he went back to London and attended Central School of Art and Goldsmith's College then transferred to Slade School of Art where he completed a postgraduate course in sculpture between the years of 1977 and 1979.
Art historians believe his work “has revivified the way in which the human form is appropriated” (“Antony Gormley”) because he is most known for numerous pieces that are moulds of his own body form. Many critics, such as Susan Hubbard were skeptical of his views when he first entered the art industry because she thought he was an unserious artist while others thought his desires to only use his body as the center of his creations would cause his sculptures to be unrelatable. Gormley stood by his beliefs and felt that since“…the closest experience of matter that [he] will ever have and the only part of the material world that [he] [lives] inside” (“Antony Gormley Biography”) is his own body; he felt his beliefs were more than adequate. Gormley strongly feels that because his sculptures lack any trace of physical identity, such as facial expressions, viewers are able to gain a profound connection between themselves and the sculptures because they are able to place themselves in the mind of the sculpture and in turn become the person going through the struggles or actions of the sculpture. In an interview with E. H. Gombrich, Gormley stated “I am interested in discovering principles… I think that underlying my return to the human body is an idea of re-linking art with human survival”(Hutchinson). Since human survival comes in all different forms and depending on the viewer, everyone will have a different interpretation. By leaving every sculpture as a blank canvas, individuals are able to connect their personal survival story with any sculpture they are viewing.
With Gormley’s inspiration originating from modernist theories and non -western religious studies, he has been able to use his fascination with the Buddhism religion to formulate the idea of “body-as-space” and “space-as-mass” ("Quantum leap: David Chipperfield's studio for sculptor Antony Gormley") to understand the central belief of unifying body, mind, and space. Gormley touches upon all of those beliefs with the creation of five phenomenal pieces: Waste Man, Event Horizon, Quantum Cloud, Still Falling, and Present Time. With these pieces and numerous others, Gormley has not only transformed England but the modern views of an artist. By placing his artwork in specific areas around London, his sculptures have progressively become a part of the natural environment. His desires to use his body as the basis of his sculptures has resultantly given viewers the freedom to envision themselves as a part of the artwork because the sculptures do not physically identify with a particular individual. With his ambitions of gathering a community together to create his pieces, he has highlighted his aspirations of revamping and strengthening the unity within a community and individuals with their body, mind, and space.
The first of the five pieces Antony Gormley used to create many of his theories is called “Waste Man.” The sculpture was built during the summer of 2006 and it stood approximately 63 feet tall, 15.09 feet in length and 8.86 feet in width on the rocky surface of Margate, UK. Although “Waste Man” was built in a poorer section of Margate, the site alone brings many of the locals an abundance of joy because it was built near a well known area called, funfair a place that reminded many of the locals of an exciting time during their childhood. The memories from this site could have prompted Gormley to use his idea of gathering together a community to create various artworks and essentially expanded upon that idea by convincing the members of the community to donate materials from their house in order to built “Waste Man.” He also encouraged a disposal service company called Thante, to aid in the entire construction process. In total, they were able to collect thirty tons of waste and they eagerly began this massive project.
The beginning stages of the six week project involved the entire base of the sculpture to be built out of what appeared to be long wooden planks. They are generally constructed vertically or horizontally, especially in the hip area, which apparently needed to be extremely sturdy because it is the only portion of the body that has consecutive rows of wooden boards aligned horizontally. The boards are arranged with large gaps in between one another, probably to accommodate for the later installation of the household appliances. Cranes lifted the construction workers to the upper half of the body in order to construct the abdomen, head, and neck. The only round structure on the body was the head, which was supported by an arrangement of a few tiny boards that later resembled the neck. The shoulders and arms were shaped in the form of cylinders and interestingly enough, one arm was raised in the air as if the sculpture was waving to the people below (Spicer, Graham). The palms of the hands appear rectangular shaped and to be made of a flat object, maybe a picture frame, and the fingers are made of long, pole like objects. There are four fingers and there does not appear to be any thumbs on either of the hands. Continuing down the body, one would find a huge rectangular shaped opening in the middle of the body and in relation to a human body; this area would be close to the heart and the upper portion of the abdomen. After laying down the frame of the body, the workers went back and filled all of the previous spaces between the boards with thousands of various colorful household appliances, such as pink toilet seats, picture frames, chairs, ladders, and even wooden doors.
After “Waste Man” was constructed, it was believed to be in conjunction with Penny Woolcock’s Margate Exodus, the retelling of the biblical story of the enslavement of Jewish people. While Penny Woolcock felt the piece represented an image of a burning bush that gave Mosses his mission to free the slaves, many locals thought it symbolized all of those “…who had been dispossessed or refused a place, standing up defiantly to be recognized” (Kittelmann, Udo. “Total Strangers.” Antony Gormley). Through the creation of the piece, this could have been Gormley’s method of letting everyone in the community know that although they were not the wealthiest people of Margate, they still deserved to have a voice. Not too long after these revelations were made, hundreds of people from the town gathered to watch the burning of “Waste Man.” As this slow process started, black smoke first engulfed the body as yellow and orange colored flames crept up the body’s sides. Many of the household materials began to fly off of the body and eventually the only parts left were the wooden planks and gaping holes left behind by the household appliances. The head and neck were the first of the major body parts to completely burn of, followed by both arms dwindling down to the body’s sides and the legs appearing to be extremely skinny because the outer planks had fallen off. The rectangular opening near the heart was the second to last remaining part of the body before that too burned off and the only visible structure left was the framework of the legs. After thirty-two minutes, “Waste Man” was completely demolished and as the locals stood in awe, it became apparent that “Waste Man” was a perfect representation of that section of Margate because it showed that even through the most strenuous obstacles, the core of any community – the people – are able to withstand anything as long as they are united.
The second piece from this collection that made a lasting impact on a particular community is called “Event Horizon” and it drastically changed the city of London after it was unveiled during May of 2007. This piece became notorious for its magnitude and the fact that it was not simply one sculpture but thirty-one life-sized bronze male figures placed in strategic locations around the city. To the amazement of many Londoners, they saw numerous sculptures placed on the roof tops of some of the most prominent buildings in London, all overlooking the city’s horizon. Gormley’s motives in the creation of this piece, was to promote his upcoming exhibit, “Blind Light” but he also wanted to make a major impact on the locals and with all of the sculptures placed in areas from the Shell Centre to King’s College, he made sure all of the sculptures were pointing in the direction of the exhibit’s location, the Hayward Gallery (Vidler, Antony, Susan Stewart, and W.J.T Mitchell). Seeing as how the majority of Gormley’s sculptures are modeled off of his own body and they strongly uphold Gormley’s philosophies of stripping away any trace of physical identity, the locations of these thirty-one sculptures holds the true significance behind the artwork.
One of these places includes the Waterloo Bridge and the sculpture stands at the northern part of the bridge. The bridge is important because it was the first bridge ever constructed at this site and it was given its name after Britain’s victory in the Battle of Waterloo during 1815. Numerous photographs taken of the sculpture show it standing on the corner of the Waterloo Bridge next to fast movements represented by an array of flashing colors from many cars and people that passed by the bridge on a daily basis. This effect is crucial to Gormley’s reasonings as to why he chose to place the sculpture at this particular bridge because the fast movement emphasizes how people constantly move from one place to another and fail to take the time to appreciate the historical importance of the bridge. Gormley believes that if something noticeable was placed near the bridge, people would eventually stop to appreciate such subtle important aspects of the bridge. This goal was accomplished because many tourists are seen both taking pictures with the sculpture and simply viewing the magnificent creations.
Another sculpture is placed on the rooftop of a building that is close in proximity to the London Eye. Being the biggest Ferris Wheel in all of Europe, it has become one of London’s most popular tourist attraction with nearly three million people visiting the site each year. Gormley’s decision to place the statue on top of a building close to this attraction was a key move because the people on the ride are given the opportunity to see the entire city. The significance of this site is similar to that of the Waterloo Bridge in the sense that such an unusual statue is standing in an unlikely place, which causes people at the very least to take note of such abnormalities, however, this site is also unique because unlike the bridge, people do not have the ability to move at their own fast pace because the wheel moves at a slow enough pace so that everyone can notice everything the city has to offer. Both of these locations and the twenty-nine others, allow the viewers to understand Gormley’s quote of “sculpture is a direct way of allowing the mind to dwell in matter”(Crags, Tong 156) because without displaying these sculptures, many would never decide to slow down and genuinely consider the subtle and historical beauties of London. Although once Gormley’s exhibit ended all of the sculptures had to be removed, Gormley still took the initiative to add something unique and creative to the city, which resultantly broaden the horizons of many because they finally were able to enjoy the finer things of the city without always having to rush by them and possibly never have noticed them to begin with.
The third piece in this collection introduces one of Gormley’s most highly valued beliefs in the ancient teachings of Buddhism. After traveling to India and Sri Lanka during the early 1970’s to study Buddhism, many of those teachings can be seen throughout much of his work. Such as in the piece titled, Quantum Cloud, which was erected in 1999 just in time for the opening of the Millennium Dome. This is Gormley’s tallest piece of art, standing approximately 98.43 feet tall on a platform stationed on the Thames River. Gormley comments on how he “…purposefully left the decision of whether this piece is abstract or the representational”(Vidler, Antony, Susan Stewart, and W.J.T Mitchell) up to the viewers and this is all too common with Gormley’s pieces. With that, the viewers can see that the piece stands at the center of the plank, and if they look closely enough, they can see a human figure standing up straight, with its arms and hands tight at their sides, in the middle of the cloud. The figure can be seen because this portion of the cloud is a lot darker and the metal nails are closer in proximity. The surrounding cloud is formed by steel nails that are 1.5 meters in length and as one moves farther away from the center of the cloud, the nails become more scattered and almost appear to form the shape of daggers. The base of the cloud is rounded, in order to allow the statue to firmly stand on the plank. The cloud appears to be a silver color, while the figure is a darker gray color.
When trying to understand the complex meaning of this particular sculpture, it is necessary to understand Gormley’s strong beliefs in Buddhism, which originated from a man known as Buddha who investigated his mind and eventually obtained a spiritual awakening, which is the understanding of one’s real nature. In Buddhism, it is commonly believed that human beings are unhappy because they do not understand their own real identity or potential because from birth, people are taught who they are, how to act, and what to think. In an interview with E. H. Gombrich, Gormley said, “I hope that my art tries to deal with big questions like who are we ... where are we going” (Hutchinson, John 240)? He does just that with many of his pieces because he constantly challenges the viewers to question their existence by giving them the freedom to interpret his work in a way that will be most significant to that particular individual. In terms of Quantum Cloud, Gormley probably would interpret this piece based on the Tibetan Buddhism beliefs because they originated from India, which is where he studied Buddhism and because this practice heavily focuses on meditation and the idea of body, mind, and space uniting as one.
Gormley desires to “…make concrete the life that goes on within the head”( Brenson, Michael) and to prevent the mind and body from becoming detached. The first method one could accomplish this, is through the first practice of meditation, which is concentration. Concentration involves visualizing certain processes in the body, and in terms of “Quantum Cloud,” this process would involve the flow of energy. Gormley focuses on the body and its interaction with the surrounding space by showing the outer steel rods surrounding the body in a scattered motion, which represents all of the chaos surrounding the figure. Gormley also expresses how the figure can easily become consumed with the surrounding chaos, however, through mediation the figure is able to find peace within itself and is able to stay calm and not panic, which is indicated by the figure’s still posture. Just as the figure is at the center of the cloud and the chaos, the figure was able to center itself and find inner tranquility that would block out the outer commotion.
The second practice of achieving complete meditation is mindfulness, which occurs when the mind observes itself conducting some sort of activity and takes note of the outer occurrences; however, the person does not allow himself to become distracted by the outer influences. In terms of “Quantum Cloud,” the figure’s activity would be viewed as standing in meditation and metaphorically the outer influences are represented by the scattered nails surrounding the figure, however, based on the body’s still form, it is clear that the figure is meditating and has centered its mind enough so that the outer chaos does not affect him. The sculpture is also surrounded mainly by water and the quiet surroundings alludes to the idea that Gormley chose this setting so that the mind has something to concentrate all of its thoughts on, which will make it even more difficult to become distracted by the outer most nails. Gormley emphasizes focusing on something serine such as water in order to bring about peaceful, calming thoughts. In an interview with Udo Kittelmann, Gormley said he wanted to recognize “…the internal condition of this space …and in some possible way to expose that space…”(Kittelmann, Udo. “Total Strangers.” Extracts from interview with Udo Kittelmann) and basically he is trying to view the space within the body and portray it to the world through his sculptures by depicting the interactions of the inner body’s space with outer space, such as daily occurrences. Simultaneously, he wants to emphasize how the body is able to properly cope with all of this type of stress through centering the body and mind with mediation.
The fourth piece in this collection is titled, “Still Falling” and it is one of Gormley’s earlier pieces of artwork that was constructed during 1983. This piece is significant for many difference reasons, one of which begins with the piece’s location, Tout Quarry Sculpture Park, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. This park is unique because it was specially created for artists and sculptors, and after many years, it became a place where sculptors could design pieces on the walls, which eventually changed the city of London by improving the city’s physical appearance. Gormley’s ideas for this piece, keeping in mind his passion for Buddhist theories, thrived by the fact that the park itself was created by both man and nature. The park was formed through natural processes but was eventually revamped through the aid of mankind and numerous sculptors like Gormley who wanted to improve the perception of London.
From afar, one may look at this piece and only see brown and white colored granite and a hilly, rocky cliff. However, if one were to continue looking at the cliff, one would begin to notice the figure of a human body, descending down the side of the cliff. The figure is falling head first and it appears as if the figure is facing towards the cliff rather than towards the open air. Gormley was able to avoid having to add facial features, a technique that he used throughout many creations of his artwork. The figure seems to be gliding rather than falling down the cliff because its hands are gently placed at its sides. The feeling of being at peace with it downward motion is represented by the arms’ stillness instead of frantic flares because the figure is falling into rocky grounds (Gormley, Antony. Malmo Konsthall, Tate Gallery Liverpool, Irish Museum of Modern Art). The Tibetan Buddhist ideals seem to be relevant in this piece as well because the figure is mindful of its surrounds, and at the same time, submerged in meditation that has allowed the figure to focus on the beautiful surrounding green leaves and trees rather than the rocky and sharp pit below. Gormley seems to express how the figure is allowing its body to gently become a part of nature and seeing as how the area in which the piece is carved into appears deeper than the surrounding area, implies that nature is graciously welcoming the figure into its new surrounds. The figure is so small and the arms are so close to the body that it almost looks like an angel or some other serine figure. The area is lighter around the figure and this could symbolize a light of acceptance shining on the figure and the blossoming purple flowers indicate a peaceful environment. Although the viewers know realistically the figure will not hit the bottom of the cliff, the beautiful setting, the deep mediation the figure has fallen into and the title of the piece, forces the viewers to feel as if the figure will never hit the bottom because nature continues to welcome all. By concentrating on nature and by maintaining mindfulness, the figure will not allow itself to become consumed with the idea of hitting the bottom and will forever fall into nature.
“Still Falling,” also strongly embodies Gormley’s overwhelming desires to gather together a community of people in order to construct his artwork because this difficult piece definitely required tremendous efforts on the behalf of an entire team of workers to complete the task. The initial chiseling of the cliff was a laborious task because the men did not use any form of advanced technology. They used blocks and wedges. Gormley understands the great lengths the workers went to in order to finish the project and yet, he strongly feels that situations such as those bring community members together and force them to work through any differences they may have, while creating something that is bigger than each individual. Gormley’s team and teachings also shows that when approaching such a gigantic task, one has to “…consider the material as part of the place; as part of the earth. The joy of this project at Tout is that this very special place provides the inspiration, the material, the studio and the exhibition space”( “Antony Gormley- Still Falling-1983”). Gormley calls attention to the fact that nature is a blank canvas waiting for people to work with it rather than against it, with the intensions of molding it into something that is original, and since it is on display for everyone in the community to view, something that is positively impacting.
The fifth and final piece of this collection is titled, “Present Time,” which was constructed during 1986 to 1989. Unlike many of Gormley’s pieces that are on display in an open space of either London or another city of England, “Present Time” visually impacts the community and the full meaning behind the piece leads to an even greater appreciation for the artwork. Located in the National Galleries of Scotland in the city of London, this sculpture stands 11.15 feet tall 6.33 feet in length and 1.15 feet in width. It is composed of medium lead fiber glass plaster and air. The light brown coloring and a hint of gray are just the subtle factors that cause this piece to be eye-catching. Most noticeably, there are two figures, both representing the shape of a human body, placed on top of one another. The upper half of the body is upside down with its legs outstretched, spread apart from one another and its feet flat. There is a vertical yellow line that extends down the midline of the upper body and continues to run downward toward the feet of the lower body. This line is horizontally bisected by two arms that are outstretched, with one yellow line extending from the left hand and stretching across the figure’s chest to end at the right hand. The figure’s palms are slightly cuffed and its fingers and thumbs are all tightly joined. Continuing down the figure, it is clear that the two bodies are adjoined at the neck and the lower half is planted firmly on the floor. The body seems to be shaped in the form of a mummy with its arms and hands stiffly by its sides and legs close together. There is no separation between the arms and the sides of the body and there is no separation between the legs. There are also yellow lines that run horizontally from the right side of the body to the left side and these lines are only seen on the lower half of the figure (Jay, Courtesy).
At first glance, this piece is clearly striking and intriguing; however, a viewer needs to understand the connection Gormley makes between Tibetan Buddhism and his artwork in order to truly understand this particular piece. On the surface, a viewer can see how the lower half expresses a confined shape with its body wrapped tight and body parts clenched together, which evokes feelings of imprisonment. With the upper half portrayed with both legs and arms outstretched, the viewers understand the belief that this portion is free. The Buddhist religious values play a crucial role as one sees how the upper half is concentrated on the figure’s spiritual or mental state, while the lower half represents the body’s physical state. Ironically, both of these states are connected but yet divided (Jay, Courtesy). The upper half of the figure allows itself to connect with its surrounding space by spreading its arms and legs, by feeling what space and air are like. The lower half, however, appears to be timid and even afraid of interacting with its surroundings and resultantly is secluded from the rest of the world. The yellow lines are also important to the figure’s meaning because they divide the body so that the viewers are able to see how the figure is affected when it is confided in comparison to when it is free. The lines on the upper half of the figure are more outstretched and farther apart, as if they have room to do things that are specific to each one. Whereas the lines on the lower half are closer together and as one descends down the body, they become smaller as if there is less room to explore the surrounding space. The figure portrays the idea that although one may try to unify the body it can still be divided and essentially trapped from true freedom and expression if one does not completely and fully submit to the teachings of mediation, concentration, and mindfulness.
“…The body is the place where emotions are most directly registered..”( Kittelmann, Udo. “Total Strangers.” Extracts from interview with Udo Kittelmann) says Gormley, which lead Courtesy Jay to see Gormley’s work of “Present Time” as the upper half representing the mind and the lower half representing the physical, such as many other photographers, and with this widely believed viewpoint, it leads to speculation that a person genuinely has to succumb to mediation and the acceptance of oneself becoming one with nature and space both mentally and physically if he whole heartedly desires to find his center amongst daily chaos. If a person chooses otherwise, he will end up like the sculpture of “Present Time,” where he mentally believes in such teachings but continues to physically restrict himself from everlasting change.
In an article by Michael Brenson, he comments on how “Gormley purposefully does not add facial expressions or emotions to the statues because it would take away from the one, unifying emotion or movement Gormley tries to capture in the statute” (Brenson, Michael.) and Gormley does uphold this value because his body is the only body form he knows best and is most comfortable depicting. By Gormley never trying to connect his sculptures to himself directly, he portrayed the idea that everyone can find a center between earth and their own body, based on their personal experiences. He used his body because he desired to teach everyone who has not had the opportunity to have a firsthand experience with Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka to receive the information he learned. Through research of the early teachings of Buddhism, the master Gautama Sakyamuni, was represented by an empty throne rather than his own body while he spread his beliefs to many, and Gormley does just that because although he is presenting these beliefs, he is not looking for recognition and solely represents his body form through his sculptures and not his physical traits. That is also why he gives a lot of credit to the community members who aid in the creation process of numerous pieces of his artwork and although he emphasizes his strong beliefs in unifying the human body with space, he also sees the importance in bringing together a community through the introduction of a new art form. His sculptures have evolved into the cities’ natural environment and through meditation and the religion of Buddhism he expresses how the body, mind, and space can easily become disconnected from the serenity of nature if they are not united as one body form.
Works Consulted
“Antony Gormley.” Double Take. 2008. South London Gallery. 20 March 2009
Gormley’s views on using his body as a model for the majority of his work and his ideas on unifying body and space are discussed on this page. It also deals with a piece called Event Horizon, which has 31 sculptures placed at specific locations in London. This was planned by Gormley in order to promote his upcoming exhibition “Blind Light.” The sculptures made a major impact on the city because the sculptures became a part of the city’s natural environment rather than paintings contained in an art gallery.
Gormley, Antony. “Antony Gormley.” Short Personal Biography. 2008. 22 February 2009
This website provides the readers with a brief introduction into the life of Antony Gormley. The readers are informed that Gormley is interested in depicting human interaction with their surrounding space. He does so by creating sculptures modeled after his own body. He began this adventure during the early 1990’s and has since transformed many cities, one of which is London, the place where his works originated.
Gormley, Antony, et al. ARTNOW: interviewers with modern artists. London: Ebenezer Baylis & Son Ltd, 2002.
Fabulous pieces of Gormley’s artwork are portrayed in ARTNOW: interviewers with modern artists, for instance, “A Case Angel” is one of the many pieces portrayed and it describes two main theories. One is the belief that the image is a representation of the unity between the spirit and matter. Another interpretation deals with the belief that the image signifies that handicap of the angel and its inability to fit through doorways, because of it enormous size. It is interesting to read about the varying views on his artwork and the controversy they create.
Gundersen, Lars. “Antony Gormley.” Cass Sculpture Foundation. 1992-2009. 28 February 2009 < http://www.sculpture.org.uk/biography/AntonyGormley/>.
This website provides great information on the beginning of Gormley’s life and essentially his introduction into the art industry. He is a well educated man who has conducted an abundance of research to formulate many ideas on the human body. Through his travels he has discovered many parallels between his central concentration of the human body and art.
Hart, Jane. “Antony Gormley.” Journal of Contemporary Art. Journal of Contemporary Art, Inc. 22 February 2009
This interview between Jane Hart and Antony Gormley touches upon basic questions about Gormley’s work, while questioning certain theories and ideals. Hart brings up a point about why he incorporates local people to aid in the construction of his artwork. Gormley appears to bring together a community of people by involving them in such a creation. Although he says some people took the creation as a joke, others were more dedicated but in all the community was stronger than prior to the project.
Jury, Louise. "How Antony Gormley Made His Bed.” Tate Britain 26 November 2004: The Independent. 25 February 2009
This article speaks upon Gormley’s first piece of artwork that made his career in art significant and unique. Through the creation of “Bed,” Gormley became quite well known for his originality and interest in the use of solely his own body. “Bed” was created over a three month period and it required him to eat 8,000 pieces of bread that later resembled the volume of his body. Although this was time consuming and resultantly the bread became moldy and had to be preserved by wax, his desire to continue to make such pieces showed heart and dedication.
Nichols, Matthew Guy. "Antony Gormley at Sean Kelly." Art in America 93.8 (Sept 2005): 148(1). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Boston Public Library. 23 Feb. 2009
In this article Nichols interestingly discovered a different and new approach to one of Gormley’s pieces. This came about after he explored a piece entitled, Clearing IV, 2005 and in this adventure Nichols slowly began to stray away from Gormley’s original idea of basing his sculptures off of his own body and realizing this piece had more to do with Nichols’ own body. In the sense that he began to focus more on the way in which he affected the tunnel with his own movements rather than the affects another figure could have had on the piece.
“Press Release.” London. 23 June 2008. The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group. 24 February 2009
This website was quite interesting because it spoke of Gormley’s proposal to have people of the local community stand on the Fourth Plinth for one hundred consecutive days, in order to create a piece called, “One and Other.” This is an incredible event because he estimated this would require the assistance of nearly 2,400 people. If he obtained this large number of volunteers, it would show a tremendous amount of unity and togetherness in the community. That idea could have been Gormley’s goal for some many years, bringing together groups of people to act as one.
Steidlmack. Antony Gormley. Gateshead: Domain Field, 2003.
The book titled, Antony Gormley, is quite complex, dealing with some of his most important work. Many of the visuals provided are equip with detailed explanations. They include information of Gormley’s reasoning behind the work to the intricate detail placed into the actual design of the artwork.
Vito, Acconi, and Mark C. Taylor. Pressplay: Contemporary artists in conversation. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2005.
Pressplay: Contemporary artists in conversation, is another enormous book that brings together a full text of interviews from Phaidon, holding long discussions with contemporary artists from 1995-2005. The interview held with Gormley was directed by interviewer E.H. Gombrich and he asked many thought provoking questions at the same time, Gombrich got Gormley to answer various questions that helps to further ones understanding in many of Gormley’s pieces. For instance, during the interview, Gormley states how he does not want his work to be symbolic, which furthers the viewers’ comprehension by realizing that Gormley’s work is solely original and unique.
Xonta, Galicia De. Antony Gormley: 18 de xaneiro-31 de marzo de 2002. London: Elena Fabeiro, 2002.
Antony Gormley: 18 de xaneiro-31 de marzo de 2002 is a book that is written in two or three different languages. In addition, it also gives a description along with pictures describing some of Gormley most notorious sculptures. It also displays Gormley’s work from a well know exhibit held in Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea.
No comments:
Post a Comment