Gormley’s Another Place is a piece of modern sculpture which can be found on Crosby Beach, Merseyside. The work consists of 100 human figures, all made from cast iron and originally modelled from the artist’s own body. The figures are spread over a 2-mile area and all face out to sea, looking away from land and towards the horizon. The position and placement of the work is vital in the works impact and meaning. In the artist’s own words: ‘I want to see whether it’s possible for art to be everyone’s, in the same way that the sky is and it still seems to me, that that is the most exciting challenge in art. Can you make the conditions that surround us all the time, into an arena for a kind of awareness that wouldn’t exist before, and I guess Another Place is a good example of this, where we have a beach, we have tide, we have changing conditions of weather and night and day and into that you insert these works, but adequately spaced, to allow for people to walk between them and in fact it’s the space between that is critical always in the work.’ The way in which these figures are spaced creates a harrowing sense of isolation. It’s the distance in-between the iron figures that communicates loneliness, a loss of human connection and also a sense of danger. I think this relates back to the very primal idea of safety in numbers and how we instantly feel more vulnerable when this feeling of safety disappears. Vulnerability is a concept that I feel I have touched upon in my own work. However, after looking at Another Place I definitely think I can use this idea more effectively to enhance my core ideas of morality, decay and mutilation of our bodies. These very cold and inanimate figures strangely seem to radiate sadness, yearning and attentiveness , all very human emotions. I am inspired by how Gormley can create such deep, complex emotions from very elemental, cast iron figures. Watching the silhouettes slowly disappear and reappear, interacting with the natural tide and environment causes me anxiety. The subconscious feeling of needing to hold my breath as the heads slip under the water is impactful and makes me think about my own morality and physical weakness, in a similar way to Hans Bellmer’s “Dolls”. This work definitely plays on the viewer’s feelings of fragility, especially against the simple but over-whelming power of the natural world. Helplessness of the figures as they stay immovable while the tide rises contrasts a beautiful sense of peacefulness against the primal anxiety of drowning. The stillness really provokes a sense of serenity, maybe subconsciously persuading the viewers to stop and simply watch the sky and sea much like his figures. Another aspect that interests me is the way in which the human body has been manipulated by nature. The brutality of the sea has caused the limbs to narrow over time, as well as being covered with barnacles and other living organisms. Overall, I want to use the idea of human vulnerability , both physically and mentally to further push my own sculptural work.
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