PLEASE NOTE

This blog goes on under a different name and new web address from January 2011. Please follow me...

Beyond the Lone Islands

http://dawntreader-island2.blogspot.com

Saturday 22 May 2010

Wholly Uncovered

2010 05 223_Wholly-sign

This is what was hidden under the canvas on the photo in my Tuesday post. I suppose it might tempt a few climbers, but I doubt it will attract quite the same attention as that red dress with the frogs on it.

In some article or interview, this sculpture (Wholly) was called a Masterpiece. Personally I don’t think I can say this one really evokes very strong feelings with me either way. I find the title rather clever, though. Especially considering that from another angle (why didn’t I take a photo of that?) you can also see a church tower behind it. (Following my train of thought? wholly – whole – hole – holy)

---

The froggy dress, by the way, has been made “whole” again, and so have the dogs. Not only that: They’re back in the park! With security guards around the clock. So that way they are “covered”… At least over this weekend (the festival).

They have put the dogs further away from the dress this time. Perhaps they think that will make it look less like a playground?

2010 05 224_dogfrogdress

The giant poodle with its head screwed back on, and brand new bushy tail. I realize now that the tail was missing already when I took my first pictures of it.

Today we had really good weather for a walk around town looking at sculptures. (I will be showing more of them in future posts.)

It was the first day of the year that felt like summer. I celebrated by buying a burger and chips and diet coke to go, and consuming them sitting on a park bench. Don’t do that very often but it’s one of the simple pleasures that put me in a summer holiday-touristing kind of mood…

Speaking of Wholly Uncovered - this little side-event was probably not planned by the Culture Committee: 

DSCN6104-2 

DSCN6106-1

DSCN6107-1

My guess – stag party, or something like that!
(MÅL means Goal. Start was on the other side of the river; the whole thing took only a couple of minutes.)

6 comments:

Graham Edwards said...

I like your follow through of the word Wholly rather better than the sculpture itself. Underwhelming I thought.

As for the dogs and skirt....

I look forward to some of the others because you have had some great sculptures posts in the past.

Must have been cold in the river!

Ginny Hartzler said...

It seems like there's always somehting wild and fun happening in Sweden? Am I right? It seems like a great place to live. I'm so glad to finally see under the covering! It must have taken a lot of work, it's so smooth and seamless. I think the kids would be really tempted to crawl through the holes! Is that a man with no pants??? I tried to enlarge that picture, but no luck! This whole thing is just so wacky!! You must be cracked up all the time. The round the clock guards must cost a pretty penny, why don't they just put a temporary fence around it?

Jeannette StG said...

I like the new sculpture very much for it forms - it's ions away for me from the "toys." Do yo know what the purpose was of the uncovered guy?

DawnTreader said...

GB, on the whole (ha) I have to say that more than one sculpture leaves me with that feeling - underwhelmed - big and heavy though some of them may be!

But I also agree with Jeannette - I do prefer Wholly to the plastic "toys".

Ginny - as for "always something wild and fun happening in Sweden", I don't know about that. I think we often think that about foreign places rather than about the place where we live ourselves.

With our town, the truth is that for a very long time it has had a nation-wide reputation of being exceptionally boring. (So boring that people actually laugh at us!) Over the past few years, considerable effort has been put into changing that reputation. And lately it does seem to be paying off. The sculptures are part of that. I can't say I like all of them, but there is a conscious strategy behind it to collect works by world famous artists.

As for putting a temporary fence around the sculptures in the park, for one thing that would just be seen as a challenge (it would take more than a "temporary" fence to keep people out if they were really set on vandalizing them), and for another (even I can see that!) a fence would totally change the whole visual impression. You are supposed to be able to get close to them and touch them. Just not climb them and break things off!

About the naked guy in the river, as I said in the post my first guess would be a stag party (for someone getting married). Or possibly some other kind of challenge or bet. I removed the possibility to click on this one... I think you "get the picture" anyway ;)

MadSnapper said...

thanks for the photos, i don't really care for the dogs/dress they are to much for me. but i actually love the wholly, it speaks to me and took a lot of talent to make it. is it metal? i like swirly things with smooths lines and even like SOME but not much modern art. this post is great, see if you can capture the church through the wholly i want to see it. i love seeing sweden through your eyes

rae said...

I would just like to reiterate how much I'm enjoying all these sculpture posts. It's getting to where I almost feel like I'm there.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin