Short Note on YSP, Plensa and Questions of Identity

Hiya mi lasses and lads: 

 Since I’ve been back from Scotland, I’ve discovered even more parts here in the area. Not only did Kathrin and I visit Nottingham, where Robin Hood was stealing from the rich (even though he is in fact a Yorkshire lad), but I also went with Chris to the YSP….oh well what could YSP mean?! It is short for Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Robin Hood in Nottingham

I realised that Brits love their acronyms. And already the word acronym is an abbreviation in itself, standing for “Abbreviated Coded Rendition Of Name Yielding Meaning”. So you could easily hear: “All FLAs should meet asap at the YSP, aka Yorkshire Sculpture Garden, u don’t need to get a CRB check or an NHS approval first.” … well there are many more out there, and probably more common ones than the ones I could think of right now ;) 

Anyways, so I went to the YSP on Sunday as the weather was so lovely. Chris and I wondered around on the grounds of the Sculpture Park and discovered numerous statues. It was the perfect opportunity to try out my Lomography Princess and I took various pictures, now I am really excited to see what they look like. But just in case they turn out not the way envisioned, I also took some pics with my 21^st century digital pink cam …

shooting away old style

Henry Moore

Andy Goldsworth

Besides the striking sculptures of two Yorkshire fellows Henry Moor (Castleford, West Yorkshire 1898- 1986) and Andy Goldsworthy (born in Cheshire, 1956, lived in Harrogate), one of the most interesting exhibits were Jaume Plensa’s works (1955). 

Plensa is an internationally renowned Catalan artist and sculptor from Barcelona. Among other things he does gigantic sculptures out of glass and steel, combining plastic art and poetry, dealing with existential human questions. The Yorkshire open air gallery offers a very broad insight into his works, and we were able to experience some of his art.

 

One striking sculpture is a 50-meter curtain of poetry made of suspended steel letters. It is called “Twenty-Nine Palms” and combines the works of some of Plensa’s favourite writers. Apart from linking the outdoors and the indoors, extra meaning is added through the shadows produced only if there is sunshine. Furthermore when you touch the letters they produce a distinct sound, converting poetry into a lived experience that is constantly changing, depending on who is touching, reading or hearing it. I found this idea extremely interesting and engaging. He managed to demonstrate the different ways of interpreting and integrating poetry, or literature in general, into our daily lives.

Furthermore gigantic sculptures of human bodies, constructed by letters out of steel can be found in the gardens. They merge with the surrounding and change, depending on where we stand. To understand a concept fully you must also understand opposites. This can be transferred to the question of identity, only when we understand the multiple contradictory parts that constitute ourselves, can we manage to understand who we are…obviously ‘something’ that is continually changing. While there might be certain parts that seem to be stable, they are not as static as we think they are. Every encounter, every experience alters us, even if it is only in the slightest possible way which is almost unrecognisable to us. My stay here in the UK, my talks with different people, my travels, the books I read, etc. are continually influencing me and shaping the person I am or rather the person I am going to be, adding new parts to who I am, emphasizing certain elements of my identity that have already been there but haven’t been foregrounded to the same extend. All this is transforming me in a different person, who is at the same time the same person…if this makes sense….hahahaha well enough rambling, I just thought about this when I saw Plensa’s work, which is definitely exciting. You should check it out: http://www.jaumeplensa.com/

chilling in the sun on top of a hill

I had a wonderful Sunday, even got a bit sunburned …imagine and this here in Britain, possibly because my skin is no longer used to sun after all those months of rain and mist hahaha. Now I am waiting for Maria, Oli and Eva to arrive!

Ta-ra!