Thursday 20 August 2015

Whaddaya Think?

What to do on a wet afternoon in Cambridge? You could do worse than wander around one of the many colleges. Umbrella at the ready, I ventured into the grounds of Jesus College where the usual collection of sculpture was augmented by an exhibition called "Sculpture In The Close". But what to make of this weird and wonderful collection? What do you make of them? I'd love to hear your favourites and, perhaps, your least favourites.


ONE
Bronze Horse - Barry Flanagan

TWO
Call It Hadrian's Wall - Geoffrey Clarke

THREE
Ripper(left) and Tread Toe - James Capper

FOUR
Empress - Barry Lane

FIVE
American Images - Lucy Skaer

SIX
Daedalus On Wheels - Sir Eduardo Paolozzi

SEVEN
Lucifer - Bryan Kneale

EIGHT
Bird-Cherry Tree Sculpture - Richard Bray
(may still be a work in progress) 

NINE
This And This And This - Eva Rothschild

TEN
The Cricketer - Barry Flanagan

OK, lets put it to the vote.

Take care.



23 comments:

  1. No 7 for me, shiny and graceful. Though Lucifer it isn't. Quite partial to the horse too but not the industrial looking things.

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  2. I could live with 1, 4, 6, 9 and 10 too except I would rename it as Puck

    No 2, 3, 5 do nothing for me

    As for 8 I am not sure about would like to see it at a different angles ?

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  3. Te cricketer, the triangles and the horse are my favourites John I am afraid I am a bit of a traditionalist where art comes in to it.

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  4. The bronze horse is wonderful. I must be missing something about No 5 though, it looks as though 3 lumps of rock fell off a lorry! The rest I could live without - another traditionalist here:)

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  5. To be honest reading the other posts on this page this one spoils it all!
    What you have found elsewhere is far better than a few examples of er, 'art.'

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  6. American images - three rocks? Really? Well, that's my least favorite I guess. Top honors go to the Cricketer. It has my attention and it deserves something for holding all together when it looks like it could easily all fall apart.
    Now I'll go back and read the other choices.

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  7. 4 is my favorite, perhaps because it looks like a glass sculpture and you know I love glass. Then 7--the curve of the wood, the beautiful finish, really appeal to me. Third is 8--whatever the artist called it, to me it looks like birds flying, very graceful and clean lines. Least favorite is the 3 rocks--what the heck is that supposed to mean? Thanks for the look, John.

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  8. Only an engineer could like 3--kind of looks like oil field .machinery seen in west Texas. Hadrians wall is nice- I like the flow. My favorite is lucifer --it appears to be a mobile, if not--it does give the feel of movement.

    Got to love those American rocks, too---it looks like Texas sandstone.

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  9. How could I not like no. 1? So it gets my top vote. No. 5 is next because I am really into rocks, and they are such interesting natural sculptures. No. 4 is cool as well -third place. Quite the collection.

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  10. I must be in a bad mood...none of them do much for me. I really don't like #6...I kind of like the one named Lucifer, but hate the name. I do like the one named This, This, and This...not sure why. I normally love rocks of any kind but those do nothing for me.

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  11. I like No. 1 Bronze Horse. I like No. 2 Hadrian's Wall next but would have to see those sculptures with my own eyes so that I could make a more objective decision.

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  12. If I have to say the best, it is fig. 2. and the sculpture I don't like at all is fig. 3. But these are not so nice sculptures

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  13. The bronze horse is my favourite. And strangely enough I also like This and This and This. Hadrian's Wall is, well, a fancy backwards question mark, and Lucifer is much to etherial to be evil. I have no idea what the rest of the sculptors were thinking. :))

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  14. For it's 2, 4, 8 and 9. I actually think nine is best, and I think too many people automatically like horses!

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  15. Well, it's 2,6,9 &10 for me:)

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  16. That was quite a collection! something for everyone. I have walked on Hadrian's Wall a couple of times (and this does not look anything like it); still, No.2 becomes my favourite. Don't ask me why.

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  17. I like wood, so the tree sculpture (#8) gets my vote.

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  18. This is probably not my favorite collection of sculptures, but I applaud them for giving space to public art. My own tastes are usually kind of traditional. #3 has no interest for me. Oddly enough, the American rocks appeal to me a bit (in Hartford we have an installation called Stone Field by Carl Andre from the 1970s that still is controversial nearly fifty years later.). The horse sculpture is just a horse, so it doesn't thrill me much. If I were told I had to pick two to install at my home, I would go with Six and Nine.

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  19. Well I guess I ended up liking 50% and non-favorites being the other 50%.
    Favorites being -- 1.4.5.8.10.
    Fun exhibit -- barbara

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  20. I rather like the voluptuous curves of the Empress, number 4 :) I know for a fact I couldn't do better so I appreciate all of the sculptures for their uniqueness John.

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  21. Hi Blogger, I am the sculptor who made number 8. It is unfinished, the base was filled in with stones later. Thanks for the exposure! Best, Richard

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  22. Hi Richard Bray again, you can see the making process on my blog on Tumblr- richardbraysculpture.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'll try to answer any questions via a comment or e-mail within the next day or two (no hard questions, please!).