While Shaun gets ready to head back to London, we reminisce about the spell bounding exhibition of Andy Goldworthy.
His work is intrinsically bound to seasons & landscape which are temporal and ephemeral. His creations are made with things that are found in nature & which when disintegrates, become one with nature!!!
His exhibition that completely knocked us was what he has done in rooms of the Underground Gallery (with help of his team).
The first major structure that hits you when you walk inside is the Stacked Oak, which dominates the foyer .It is pyramid shaped made out of logs of wood. Different sizes, lengths, width , shapes, arranged such that they Balance, without crumbling down, entirely self supporting ………. Wonder how long it took them to make this, how many times it fell apart!!!
Balance is an Art, how can Balancing ones life differ???
The first room, is the Stone room, has eleven domes, all perfectly made to fit the room, all in harmony with each other. These domes are made of stones, cut in such a way, that they are built from the ground upwards into 5 layers, stacked together, with the last round circular stone has a black hole, suggesting this work penetrates into the earth below!!!
Ashes to Ashes … dust to dust …
The Clay room, where he has clay cracked walls, which is made up of 20 tons of clay, mixed with … believe it or not … 300 litres of human hair!!!
Reminds one so much of humare gaon ke ghar … clay, mud, cow dung, hay … totally bio degradable & in complete unity with Nature, Origin of surface of earth!!!!( Did he take this idea from us … will have to ask him , if I ever meet him!! )
Clay comes in contact with Sun, Wind, Nature & cracks are formed, in Life, every experience & wisdom creates that crack!!
The Wood room, is another self supporting structure, chestnut, which has been stacked all around the room. When you walk into the room, it is complete darkness, till your eyes get use to it & then this larger than life structure that reminds you of a nest, turned upside down!
From Lightness we went into Darkness, adjusted to the darkness, saw the tunnel with the light, walked towards that, to be once again blinded by the bright light, to adjust to the light!!! There is Light no matter what, one just has to focus & adjust!!
Last & the most stunning of them all is the Leaf Stalk room. A Stalk Screen that spans the 12 metre room, held together only with blackthorn, with a circular opening in the centre of this screen.
If one has the courage to jump through this, it would be like finding another fascinating world on the other side. Leap of Faith??? First glance & I thought it was a really thin net with all the stalks fit together, till I realized otherwise, it was once again a pure balancing act. Was like a spiders web …. In some ways , methinks , this must have been one of his inspirations for this screen.
The beauty of all these rooms is also that, apart from the Wood room, all have a skyline & the sunlight gives its own shadows & textures to the structures, a mystery waiting to unravel!!!
Highlight, is me driving around Manchester & managing to cut lanes , without causing any accidents!!! The desi in me has come alive, what else can one expect, itne sare desi hain idhar , ki lagta hai, I am in apna Saher, ka kahen!!! Ahem!!!
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