Captain's Log

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

I don’t mind looking at the odd sculpture. The ones I particularly like are the steel figures by Ray Lonsdale that you can find along the North Sea coast. I was also impressed by the Angel Of The North by Antony Gormley at Gateshead.  Another memorable one was a large metal ball constructed from the outlines of birds near Amble; there wasn’t even any accreditation with that one. I’m not an art critic though. I mostly fail to appreciate the more abstract works. Despite more poor art credentials I decided to have a walk around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park that is located at Bretton Hall, which is just a stone’s throw from the M1. 

I parked at the Weston entrance where I was surprised to find that the car parking was free. There was a posh café and shop there, but the ticket ‘checking’ took place at a  tiny wooden shed, hidden out of sight of the main building.  I showed my online ticket to the guy inside, but he didn’t really seem that interested, even though there was a QR code begging to be scanned on my ticket. He just took my name, wrote it down in a notebook and that was it.  The OS map shows a public footpath running through the park and so I wondered how you’d carry on if you just wanted to walk along the public footpath, but not look at the sculptures. I wasn’t going to worry about it; my ticket cost £10 and gave me access to the park and its galleries, as well as the free car parking. Even I found that to be a bargain deal. 

Damien Hirst

I didn’t really have a formal plan on how to fill the afternoon. I saw that many other people had picked up a paper copy of the map of the park from the Visitors Centre and were using that to navigate. I’d also seen a site plan on the YSP website  that I could have looked at on my phone, if I could have been bothered. I decided to adopt a laissez-faire method for the day and just follow wherever my curiosity took me. 

The first area I came across had been allocated sculptures by Damien Hurst…yes, the fellow who displayed that shark swimming in formalin as a work of art. I almost felt like I’d stumbled into an episode of Squid Game when I approached his first piece. The tall sculpture was of a young girl who had a calliper on her leg. A school party was walking towards it with me and it felt like we were playing the ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game from the South Korean TV show. I looked around at the surrounding trees for snipers, but I couldn’t see any. The sculpture was called ‘Charity’ and on closer inspection, I could see it was a scaled up version of those charity ‘boxes’ that you used to see outside shops in the 1970s; hence the calliper on the young girl's leg. There was a large crow bar leaning up against her and a trap door on her back was open. Around her feet were some oversized coins. It did make me chuckle and so despite the necessary plagiarism, Damien did get a gold star from me for this one. It did occur to me that the idea of this charity box was well before the birth of any of the schoolkids that were looking bored around the bottom of it.  Some ideas get lost with time. 

‘The Virgin Mother’ had been visible from my initial entry into the park and I now wandered over towards it. It was a 10m high, painted bronze statue of a pregnant naked woman. The skin has been peeled back on half of her body and head, revealing underlying muscles, skull and the unborn baby. I have to say now, that this was not a piece I would gladly display in my house. There was no denying that it had the ‘Wow’ effect on me. It was just that I couldn't' decide whether it should be on show at a highbrow Sculpture park or displayed as a lowbrow attraction at a dodgy fun fair. 

Oxley Bank

There are two lakes at YSP, named Upper and Lower. I crossed the dam of the latter and this offered wonderful views over the water to the tall Emley Moor mast in the distance. This amazing structure seemed almost like a sculpture piece in itself. ‘Seventy One Steps’ created by David Nash were seventy one steps that took me to the ridgeline of Oxley Bank. To be honest, the steps looked like any other that you might find on a nature trail. There then followed some pleasant woodland walking along the ridge.  Hemali Bhuta’s ‘Speed Breakers’  were bronze tree roots that had been embedded into the path and looked like all the other tree roots that I'd seen on the woodland trail. A little further along I came across two areas enclosed by stone walls. Each one had roots of a tree (real ones this time)  that appeared and disappeared through the sides of the stone walls. The stone enclosures were almost like exposed inspection areas for the root system. I thought it looked quite interesting, but I couldn’t find any information board, and I did wonder whether I’d just stumbled on some natural phenomenon. 

I escaped the trees, further along the ridge and this revealed some wonderful views over a rolling rural landscape. Perched on a chair, looking out on this vista, was Sean Henry’s ‘Seated Figure’. The figure was oversized, but initially it was difficult to accurately determine its scale as I approached. I rather liked this piece. The seated figure was a man and had a characterful face that invited you to imagine his thoughts as he continually looked out on the amazing view before him. 

Upper Lake

The path dropped down off the bank and I ended up at the Longside Gallery. A sign said it was closed which was a bit disappointing given that I’d probably walked a mile from the carpark to get there. It was such a beautiful sunny day though that I was better off outdoors than indoors anyway. I headed back into the park through fields and reached the lakes again at Cascade Bridge. I started following a trail clockwise around the Upper lake. I came across the ‘Shell Grotto’. Oddly enough, I’d recently come across another grotto at Clumber Park (see Clumber Park, 50 Years Later).  I’d always thought grottoes were caves, but an information board told me that they had a long architectural history and had no specified form or function. The earliest grottoes were pagan shrines dedicated to water nymphs in ancient Greece. The information board said that during the Renaissance wealthy British landowners would often employ a hermit to live in them. The ‘Shell Grotto’ seemed a bit rough-and-ready. I stepped inside and found that sea shells had been cemented to its ceiling. It wasn’t really a place I'd want to live, no matter how much the Lord Whoever was willing to pay me. 

‘The Boat House’ was at the western end of the Upper Lake and over the years had found itself further away from the water of the lake. The art trio of JocJonJosch had created ‘Eddy’ in the Boat House which turned out to be a round boat with three oars, which just goes to show why some people are better employed as artists than they would have been as engineers. The information board said the following about the art trio:
“These ideas are often explored through installations and performances. For a series of photographs entitled ‘The Beasts’, the artists entwined themselves in a series of naked embraces, each creating one monstrous ‘Beast’.”
Based on this, I couldn’t resist a peek at their website and marvelled at their ‘Human Bricks, 2011.’ I was satisfied that this confirmed my hypothesis about artists and engineers.

The trail took me away and uphill from the lake and I came across Anthony Gormley’s ‘One and Other’. This consisted of one of his figures standing on the top of a dead tree. I wondered whether he ever got bored of constructing these minimalist figures and might enjoy doing something else.

I came across the Greek Temple folly. Whereas the Shell Grotto had felt damp and dingy, the Greek Temple was light and airy. The sun lit up the grassy area in front of it and it was quite a nice place to spend a few moments of relaxation. The trail descended back to the Cascades Bridge. 

Lower Lake

I followed a trail that ran along the southern side of the Lower Lake and came across what turned out to be my favourite piece at YSP.  This was Jaume Plensa’s ‘Wilsis’. The sculpture was what appeared to be a large woman’s head looking out over the lake. It has a ‘Cor Blimey!’ scale to it without being too silly. My first thought was that it would be like an Easter Island Head. It was only when I approached it that the perspective changed and I found the sculpture to be more or less flat, rather than three dimensional. It was remarkable. Up close, it just seemed to be a mass of abstract forms clumped together. I was so dumbfounded by this, that I backtracked on my approach path, just to confirm that I really had seen what I thought I'd seen. Sure enough, the three dimensional woman’s head reappeared. Remarkable! Apparently Plensa got inspiration for this piece by viewing the heads on coins from different perspectives. I wasn’t sure whether this was good art or just a clever mind trick. Probably it was both. 

I reached the end of the Lower Lake, crossed the dam and started walking along its northern side. It wasn’t long before I came across Tom Friedman’s ‘Hazmat Love.’ This was a relatively small sculpture and consisted of two small figures made out of highly polished steel. They had linked hands and it wasn’t clear whether they were dancing or fighting. They were both wearing Hazmat suits (clothing worn during environmental emergencies). The artist modelled the design using oven roasting trays which just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need to be high-tech or have a lot of money to become a sculptor. 

I saw the ‘Wilsis’ sculpture on the other side of the lake. From this angle it had materialised back into a three dimensional head again. 

Near the end of the lake I came across Lucy + Jorge Orta’s ‘Gazing Ball.’ This was a shiny steel ball settled on a steel framework. I sat inside it and looked up at the ball above me. The reflection gave me a 360° distorted view of the surrounding landscape. I like sculptures which invite some degree of interaction and so I gave this one a gold star. As I studied the frame I noticed there was a replica of a heart sat on one of the steel supports. For such a geometrical structure it seemed out of a place. The information board told me that the artists put it on to commemorate the death of a close friend who had died waiting for a heart transplant. 

I found myself back at Cascades Bridge again and decided to slowly make my way back to the Weston carpark. 

Hares And Bonnets

The area north of the lakes was more open park land. There were trees about, but I didn’t feel as enclosed as I did around the lakes. The first sculpture I came across was Sol LeWitt’s ‘123454321’. This was a set of breeze blocks that had been arranged into cubes with dimensions as expressed in the title. This was the type of artwork that would get the veins on the heads of Daily Mail readers throbbing. In a Spock sort of way, I could appreciate the mathematical interest in the piece. Is it art? I’d leave that for the chin rubbers to debate.  

Kimsooja’s ‘A Needle Woman’ was impressive. It reminded me of a TinTin space rocket that you might find in one of Herge’s cartoons. An information board described the process that Kimsooja went through to make this sculpture:
“ …involved her standing motionless with her back to the camera amidst endless crowds of busy people in busy cities including Tokyo, Delhi and Lagos. Grounded still and calm, her body became a pivot around which humankind seemed to flow.”
It didn’t really explain why she couldn't deduce the same thing by standing in a busy street in Seoul, but I suppose it would make a good excuse for a round-the-world trip if you can attract a sponsor. I had to concede that it made a visually stunning piece though.

I made my way up the hill to Sophie Ryder’s sitting. This consisted of a woman’s body with a hare’s head and made out of galvanised wire. It had a ‘Oooh’ scale to it and I rather liked it. Nearby was Ursula von Rydingsvard’s ‘Damski Czepek’. That means lady’s bonnet in the Queen’s (or maybe King’s now) English. It was indeed a lady’s bonnet made out of resin. There was a translucency to it and on a sunny day like today, the bonnet glowed. Whether I’d have been as impressed on a dull day, then I’m not so sure. 

Henry Moore

I headed back downhill and into the Henry Moor section of the YSP. This was an open parkland section that had a scattering of Henry Moore’s sculptures, although the  scattering of sheep droppings was more prolific. I’d never seen so much and it was hard to avoid treading on the stuff. Henry Moore was of course a Yorkshireman (from Castleford) and so it seems fitting that some of his sculptures have found their way to YSP. With the blue skies, fluffy clouds and open landscape, they seemed well suited for the area. His abstract shapes seemed natural and pleasing to the eye. Some of them wouldn’t look out of place in the Dark Peak, on Bleaklow or Kinder Scout. The sculptures  were quite spread out and I had to climb up a hill for the full tour. On top of the hill I found ‘Upright Motives No.1: and Glenkiln Cross No.2; No.7. The totem pole like figures looked interesting with the backdrop of Barnsley on the horizon. 

There were other sculptures in the Henry Moore area. I was attracted to the large scale sculpture of Robert Indiana’s iconic ‘LOVE’ . This is the one where the ‘L’ and ‘O’ are positioned above the ‘V’ and ‘E’.  I thought it was a recent idea, since you can go to shops like Range and pick a version of it up to put on your windowsill at home, to demonstrate to your neighbours what a loving and caring person you are. I was therefore surprised to learn that its origins dated back to 1964 when the artist started using the slanted ‘O’ in his paintings. The ‘LOVE’ at YSP is large and feels a little surreal sitting on a grassy hill rather than on somebody’s windowsill or mantlepiece. 

I made my way back downhill and headed to the Weston carpark. The path took me back through Damien Hirst’s area and I had another look at ‘The Hat Makes The Man’, to see if I’d missed something earlier in the day on my initial inspection. I hadn’t; I guess even Damien has to have an off-day. 

It had been a day that had far exceeded my expectations. The grounds of YSP were larger than I’d expected and the trails were plentiful and excellent. I must have seen over a hundred sculptures altogether, but I’m sure there were plenty that I missed. I didn’t even have time to visit any of the galleries. The place definitely requires a full day if you decide to do an internal and external tour. Given the thought provoking artwork on display, I thought the £10 entrance  fee was a bargain.