This has been a very busy week. I have been shortlisted for a commission at Conwy Castle in North Wales and went there for a site visit. It took me 3 days to complete the visit and associated research in the area and because of a tight schedule, I have only 10 days to complete my proposal – not much time to blog then!

But it was such a fantastic trip in the gorgeous heatwave we are having, Wales is an insanely beautiful country and the journey north through the mountains and slate quarries is spectacular. The castle itself was built by Edward 1st in 1283-9 to assert English domination over the Welsh Princes.

Originally the walls would have been limed white and it must have made a stunning impression. The opportunity to submit a proposal to make some work for this World Heritage Site is very exciting and I have started making some small cast glass samples to submit.

In the course of my research I discovered that there is some mediaeval glass surviving in the area and I made an appointment with Richard Hughes, the Curator of the museum in nearby Llandudno, who kindly showed me some pieces from their archive. I was totally amazed at the glass that came out of those boxes! There is so little early glass surviving from this period that I had expected it to be much more fragmentary and in worse condition. Richard also told me about the church at Llanrychwyn where there is glass surviving in situ, and in the fading light I made my way up into the hills of the Conwy valley on a road that seemed to be melting into the hillside and becoming ever more indistinct and rocky. I was sure the church must be locked but was delighted to find a very human sort of door fastening and let myself in.

To enter a church which was actually used by Llewellyn Fawr, the great prince of Wales, took my breath away.

Whilst in Llandudno I called in to Oriel Mostyn gallery and discovered an amazing exhibition by David Nash. David is a sculptor who has also been to Northlands Glass and whose work I last saw on the stairs in Lani MacGregors wonderful house at Latheron. The show is truly stunning, wonderful to see his work in such a sympathetic space, this is the most moving exhibition I have seen in a long while.

I can never resist stopping off in Aberystwyth, this time I was rewarded with  photo of an ageing biker – “Ride it Like You Stole It” his t-shirt said as he sipped tea on the prom with his cronies – good on you!

]]> http://kasewickman.com/2011/08/25/mein-kampf-tattoo-appears-on-cover-of-boston-pbs-station-magazine/ Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:59:51 +0000 kase http://kasewickman.com/2011/08/25/mein-kampf-tattoo-appears-on-cover-of-boston-pbs-station-magazine/ WGBH, a public media hub in Boston, is drawing unwanted attention after choosing to put the subject of a Frontline documentary — and the “Mein Kampf” tattoo on his forearm — on the cover of their August member magazine, distributed to 150,000 members of the station.

Read the rest of this story behind the cut, or at Raw Story, where it was originally published.

David Nash appears in a composite photograph with four other people who have been the subjects of WGBH stories, with his arms crossed and the title of Adolf Hitler’s infamous manifesto clearly displayed tattooed along his forearm. Nash was central to the May 2010 Frontline documentary “The Wounded Platoon”, which chronicled the mental anguish many soldiers experience after multiple tours of duty and horrific experiences. (The story won a Peabody Award.) Nash and his story are also featured in a WGBH fundraising campaign.

Jeanne Hopkins, WGBH’s vice president for communications and government relations, sent an internal memo to station employees who had expressed concern after seeing Nash’s tattoo on the cover. She wrote a statement based on a conversation with Nash, from his point of view.

“Only part of the tattoo is visible,” the statement reads. “Those words are part of a larger phrase ‘my struggle is eternal’ (mein kampf ist ewig) that continues on my arm. This is an entirely personal statement that reflects struggles I have had in my own life, and is meaningful for me. It is not related to any other words or beliefs. I chose the tattoo in German because of my family heritage. I regret any misinterpretation, and I apologize if it has offended anyone.”

When contacted by Raw Story, she sent the same statement.

“It’s not what it appears to be,” Hopkins told Raw Story. “It has nothing to do with Hitler’s book. In fact, when he had this done, it was not even in awareness about the book.”

She said that no one had been concerned about the possible backlash to Nash’s tattoo when putting together the cover.

“To be honest with you, there was not an awareness of the tattoo,” she said. “No one had really looked closely to see what it was.”

Asked whether she was concerned that WGBH could be subject to race-centric criticism — just like NPR faced after the firing of Juan Williams and the video about racism in the tea party that led to CEO Vivian Schiller’s resignation — Hopkins said, “I don’t think the question you posed about race fits here.”

WGBH has not issued a statement or apology about the tattoo.

“We’re happy to explain to anyone who asks,” Hopkins said.

Watch a promo for “The Wounded Platoon,” featuring David Nash, embedded at Raw Story.

So, today I had a meeting with Alan to discuss the new micro website for Peripheral Vision and some ideas for the books. I had taken along a copy of the PDF of the project, which was a good move as he will base the design around this so that we have a coherent theme.

David Nash & Jamie Shovlin

Before leaving, I was thrilled to have a sneak preview of a book for David Nash (bow down and kiss his feet) and a book for the Saatchi artist Jamie Shovlin. Below is a photo I took at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park during David Nash’s exhibition there in February:

Coloring Book, Jeff Koons

A few highlights:

• Coloring Book, by Jeff Koons – because I like shiny things
• A couple of endearing cut-outs by Rob Ryan
• Out of the Dark, by Brigitte Williams – dense, swirling text, each line beginning “Zero is…”
• Keith Tyson’s Deep Impact – nebulous reds and oranges below a fluid glaze

My favourite thing was a burned-out tree trunk – Funnel, by David Nash. I’d like to climb inside.

Your Art Is My Frame

Since the Royal Academy’s Foundation in 1768, the Summer Exhibition has been an annual fixture.  Historically, the exhibition was an opportunity for Royal Academicians to showcase their work but, today, it is renowned as the show where amateurs stand proudly alongside the gods of the modern-day art world.  It is part of the social calendar with all the glossies covering the grand party that marks the opening.  It is the show that is hated by the art world (many don’t even bother to visit) but it is packed every day until August.  You couldn’t hold this exhibition without the expected criticism.  Now, I won’t pretend that I’m not a Summer Exhibition critic but I did enjoy this year’s more than most.

Visitors at The Summer Exhibition.  Image via www.guardian.co.uk. 

I’d been eagerly anticipating the exhibition since Jeff Koons’ sculpture was installed in the courtyard a few weeks ago.  Although quite abstract, the work stems from a line drawing of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh - one of my all-time favourite children’s’ books.  Koons explores the joyous playfulness of child-like marks in a colouring book.

Jeff Koons, Colouring Book.  Own photograph.

Royal Academicians Christopher Le Brun and Michael Craig-Martin (both of whom have wonderful works on display) have played major roles in this year’s curation.  Key to the changes introduced this year is that there is no theme.  I applaud their decision to accept the random nature of the exhibition and to go with it.

Unusually this year, visitors enter the exhibition through the central octagon filled with large-scale photographic works and Martin Creed’s Work No. 998 (familiar from his exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, last year) where he has stacked chairs one on top of the other.  Although the chairs are different from each other they appear the same through the calming influence of rhythm, sequence and harmony.

Martin Creed, Work No. 998.  Image via www.guardian.co.uk. 

 The selling point of the show has been the ‘Salon Hang’ in the RA’s grandest space.  Room III is certainly a success but, ironically, what I think works best is that it isn’t quite as crammed as in previous years.  The Royal Academy was originally housed at what is now The Courtauld Gallery and an 18^th century salon hang was a dense floor-to-ceiling collective of works where the prime positions were ‘on the line’, a moulding placed at eye level.  This was excellently re-created in the ambitious exhibition, Art On The Line, in 2002.

Art On The Line, The Courtauld Gallery, 2002, curated by Professor David Solkin.  Image www.courtauld.ac.uk. 

Although not necessarily as busy as these hangs once were, Le Brun has followed traditional ideals with pieces radiating out from the large-scale works in the centre of each long wall.  He wanted visitors to find their own way through the gallery rather than being controlled by curatorial ideas.  He succeeds.  The strong grey wall colour suits the gravitas of many of the pieces on display.

Room III.  Image via www.guardian.co.uk. 

For me, in this room and across the whole exhibition, Keith Tyson’s Deep Impact has to take first prize.  This mixed media on aluminium is a burning fire of molten fury, the swirling colours conjuring passion, turmoil and power, grabbing viewers’ attention as they amble through the thousands of works on display.

Keith Tyson with his work, Deep Impact.  Image via www.guardian.co.uk. 

It is very hard to discuss this exhibition without pinpointing particular works.  As ever, at the Summer Exhibition, the best works stand out and the others merge into a panoply of dross.  I clacked around (the RA floors have some of the best heel acoustics in London) clutching my champagne, list of works and pen, noting interesting pieces.  But, flicking back, I now see I circled more than I expected so I will try to be brief.

Anselm Kiefer’s Aurora haunts the Large Weston Room.  This room, usually subdivided into sections on one side, has been left open and this is very successful.  There are still loads of works but, finally, there is the space to see them.

The Lecture Room, curated by Craig-Martin with his own specially invited artists, gathers together all the famous names of art with Allen Jones, Gary Hume, Michael Craig-Martin himself, Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville, Anish Kapoor, Christopher Le Brun, Antony Gormley, Richard Long… I could go on!  The works are all signature pieces from the artists as Craig-Martin wished the works to reveal ‘the true, distinct, and singular voice of an individual artist’.

Allen Jones, Think Pink.  Image via www.telegraph.co.uk. 

There are the usual ‘pretty’ works (Ice-Hiss by Vanessa Cuthbert and Mr Muscle by Tor Hildyard) and, yes, there is a lot of rubbish (including some disappointing pieces from big names) and the last room is particularly weak.  But, if you search thoroughly, there are some wonderful things: David Nash’s Funnel, an amazing severed trunk that we can peer through, and Dae Kwon’s 250510R, that has won the Jack Goldhill award, both stood out for me.

Dae Kwon, 250510R.  Image via www.telegraph.co.uk. 

Dog In a Bin by Simon Brundret is a kinetic sculpture made from silicone, rubber, bin and a motor, showing a dog devouring rubbish.  There is no doubt that this has the novelty factor but it left me with a smile.  I dare you not to look at it and grin.

Simon Brundret, Dog In A Bin.  Image via www.telegraph.co.uk. 

The RA receives no public money and the Summer Exhibition generates much revenue for the gallery.  Sales from the Summer Show also contribute to funding the RA schools (the only non-fee paying UK art school) which produce some of our greatest artists.

No-one is pretending that the Summer Exhibition is a collection of the best art in the UK today – accept it for what it is and enjoy it for all those reasons.  It is a gathering both of art and people, a mish-mash and an essential fixture in our summer calendar that provides an opportunity to see what’s going on in all echelons of the art world.

Anish Kapoor, Untitled.  Image via www.guardian.co.uk. 

The Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy opens on 7^th June until 15^th August 2011, www.royalacademy.org.uk.

David Nash is a sculptor that I have admired since studying at GCSE level (many!) years ago.  David works predominantly with wood, whether “dead” in his wood carving sculptures like Pyramid, Sphere, Cube or Boulder to when it is growing like with Ash Dome.

In Pyramid, Sphere, Cube, David has cut the shapes out of wood and then burnt its outer to charcoal to give it the blackness we can see.  He has then drawn the shapes in charcoal on the wall behind.  The repetition of the shapes echo the idea of shadows and bring a sense of presence to the work, making it more powerful to the viewer.

Boulder is one of my favourite pieces by David.  In this work he created a huge stone shaped piece from a felled tree and set it off on a journey downhill in a river.  The boulder was left to fend for itself against the elements, the river bed bashing against it, leaving its own mark, the water smashing around it, the seasons freezing and warming it.  Unfortunately the work has not been seen for a couple of years, last sighted in some sandbanks.  Some people think that it got washed out to sea, others think that it got buried by the sand.  I guess no one will ever know.  I like the idea that what has been taken from nature, is changed by nature and then returned to nature to do with it what it will.  It is an idea echoed in religion all over the world.

Ash Dome was the very first work I became aware of when I began researching artists for a project when still in school.  I was looking at creating a piece of work called “Workers”, honouring the mining heritage of the area that I’m from.  My teacher at the time suggested that I look at artists who work with nature and this is how I discovered David.  Ash Dome was created with Ash tree saplings and over time they have been bent and platted together to create a living dome, a space that David uses to think and ponder things.  I really like this work as it works with nature to create a calming room that lives and changes with the seasons.  In a society where we are used to taking things away from the environment to create “spaces” to live,think and call our own, David has created the same thing but without the need to destroy natural beauty.  This work is forever changing and growing and I like that it will never be the same from one year to the next.

They had also been in a viewing gallery that was not art. David described it  as “like a cage within a cage” and told us how he had feared he would not be able to get out. He kept telling us how it had felt to be ‘trapped’ inside. It started to sound like an art experience to me.

“Is that the viewing gallery over there?” I asked, pointing to a structure in the distance.

viewing gallery (?)

Yes it was…

…and yes it was art. It was Basket #7 by Winter/Horbelt.

Did their not knowing it was art make it an even more interesting experience?  Was it more art the less they knew that it was art?

Nash is interested in how his chosen material grows and changes over time. This fascination began very early on in his career when he carved nine balls in wood and found that after a time they cracked open and “smiled” at him, showing him the way forward for his work. He carves into unseasoned wood and then watches it change and develop, sometimes intervening regularly in the process and sometimes not. This change may happen thanks to environmental conditions if the work is outside or simply because of the nature of wood itself as it dries out and seasons. There is a lovely piece in the exhibition called cracking box made in 1992 which is a real celebration of what wood can do. It has warped into an irregular and beautiful parody of what Nash originally made, as if the tree that it came from is still alive in the gallery.

Nash has made a new permanent piece set out in the park, Three Stones For Three Trees, which will change and develop with time as the trees increase in size and their relationship with the stone that they have been given changes.There is a pleasing simplicity about the idea of giving a gift to a tree, a kind of tribute and an acknowledgment of its longevity, and you never know, they may even grow together.

Nash’s work Wooden boulder began in 1978 and in a sense it is still ongoing. Video and sketches in the Garden gallery tell the story of a simple wooden boulder which Nash was in the process of bringing back down a stream after carving it on site in North Wales when it became stuck at the top of a fall. It eventually worked loose and since then he has followed and recorded its progress, occasionally helping it along the way, as it made the long journey out towards an estuary and the sea. After being missing for more than five years it reappeared in 2009. Its current whereabouts are unknown. A mysterious and magical journey.

damp and dry
burnt and buried
wood is given
we do not make it
in air it cracks
in fire it burns
in water floats
in earth returns

All photos are my own copyright other than the one of the wooden boulder (a still from the video of its progress) which was filmed by David Nash himself.

David Nash

“Don’t climb on the statue,” I said to my eldest daughter.

“It’s just a pile of rocks, Daddy,” she replied.

Now, it sounds like I’m going to write a post dissing modern sculpture. But I’m not. I love the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I’ve been many times now with my family and although my kids may not appreciate the subtleties of modern art, they do love a good run around and a clamber over randomly placed rocks.

There are permanent works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Sophie Ryder amongst others. They also have an exhibition on at the mo by an artist called David Nash. He works mainly in wood and his sculptures are very organic.

David Nash

YSP is a pretty unique place. Set in vast grounds, (if you want acreage you can look on their website), it’s just as much fun going for a stroll around the park, worrying sheep and enjoying a picnic as it is perusing the indoor galleries.

It’s free in, parking’s four quid and they have a decent gift shop and cafe. Though, my one criticism would be that, even though the food is lovely, the prices are a tiny bit steep for my liking. Well, I am a Yorkshireman, after all. It’s somewhere between Wakefield and Barnsley in south, West Yorkshire and north, South Yorkshire. Er… I’d Google map it if I were you. We go over from sunny Stocky which is a lovely jaunt over the Woodhead Pass.

I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. If you like art, you’ll love it. If you’ve got kids, they’ll love it. If you like oxygen, you’ll love it.

Very unworried sheep

Sophie Ryder. (The sculpture, not my daughter.)

Barbara Hepworth

Henry Moore

Henry Moore?

Sophie Ryder

Sophie Ryder

David Nash

David Nash

After completing his studies at Kingston, Brighton and Chelsea Scools of Art British Sculptor David Nash moved from London to laenau Ffestiniog in North Wales where he purchased a chapel. Dislocated from the mayhem of London and the urban sprawl the chapel remains both his home and studio.

In 1977 Nash who works primarily in wood, planted a number of Ash saplings on a plot near his home, which became his ‘Laboratory’. The Ash Dome is a place for thinking and developing new works.

The following programme on David Nash is available in the BBC iPlayer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ymlhp/Force_of_Nature_The_Sculpture_of_David_Nash/

When I told CJ we were heading to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, she was not convinced. As usual she wondered where the playground was. As usual, I pointed out that one of her favourite places is Walkden Gardens where there is not a swing in sight.

Any concerns she may have had were wiped away once she clapped eyes on the amazing sight of vast acres of parkland. It’s beautiful enough in itself, but the addition of a huge variety of sculptures to run around, gaze at and, in many cases, stroke, transform the site into a magical world. These sculptures must seem even more awesome if you are one metre tall like my daughter. Fortunately, she was not freaked out by sights such as a giant rabbit banging a drum.

We spent most of out time looking at the temporary exhibition of works by David Nash. This is only on until February 27th. I can’t emphasise this enough; if you can get to Yorkshire Sculpture Park before it finishes, do it. The wooden sculptures in the outdoor gardens and indoor galleries are stunning. Don’t miss the film in the Bothy Gallery of “The Boulder” tracing the progress of a boulder made from wood and released into a stream. The film shows the boulder’s progress over 25 years along the river, into the estuary and out to sea. It was last seen in 2003.

If I have not sold you on Yorkshire Sculpture Park already, there is a cafe with fabulous views and fabulous cake. You will not be disappointed.

David is Britain’s most important contemporary sculptor in wood, a material in which he has worked for over 40 years, and at the core of his work is a profound knowledge of trees. The exhibition, selected from his current retrospective at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, forms part of our Tree Culture programme which contributes to the UN International Year of Forests. David will also be giving a talk hosted by Dartmoor Arts and a major sculpture will be shown in the gardens of Dartington Hall. The exhibition is supported by a grant from the Henry Moore Foundation.

Anyone guess where the scultpure might be going in the grounds……

…and then you emerge into the landscape, and the trees are now much more real – they have a ‘significance’ that you didn’t notice before: wriggling limbs and dense solid trunks, intensely green lichen, a solid ball of creeper at the heart of the black branches. In fact – the world is charged with an intensity that it didn’t have before. Capturing the intensity – the moment – is what makes you feel alive.

Fog?

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Oh, Fog!

Actually, in the afternoon it became quite seriously foggy by today’s standards but having been brung up in Croydon,  I remember the last pea-soupers before they introduced smokeless fuel and we entered the period when real fog was a thing of the past or the future.  Now of course, smog has returned to the world.  Not so much to do with winter and cold but more to do with heat and exhaust fumes.  The more things change eh?

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Well I don’t by any standards do justice to this man’s work but here are more attempts to capture something of David Nash’s work in wood

A couple of other things crept in there; the view from Sister in Law’s window, a couple of giants lurking and a sliver of Yorkshire seen from the shop window while Barney and sister in law watched films – about the sculptor it’s true but I wanted to go out and look!!  And the weather was so gorgeous!

Later though, I did watch the film about the wooden boulder.  David Nash carved it out of a giant tree trunk and sent it on a 30 year journey, starting from a waterfall near his studio in Wales.  It rolled a little distance and came to rest.  After a year or two, floods carried it a little further and, increasingly weathered and beaten, it made an epic journey to the sea.  Sometimes stranded in woodlands or marshes or tidal sand spits, once wedged under a bridge but always, eventually, rolling and floating and tumbling onwards, it travelled, with the story of its journey written on its wooden surface.  I can only guess at the patience and perseverance that must have been needed to keep visiting whenever it paused, often for years, noting down the date and waiting to hunt it down when it moved on after floods or frost disturbed it.

And how extraordinary for a young man in his twenties to conceive of such a journey, to create such a thing and to send it on its way and follow it so doggedly for so long.  To trust in wind and water and time to create the story.

So.  Last seen in  2003.  I wonder where it will be now. Perhaps one day on a journey to somewhere far away, I’ll see it!   As David Nash said,  it isn’t lost because it will be wherever it is now.

On that note I’ll go – nothing is lost.  Wherever it is.

Hmm.

Goodnight : )

Good stuff innit, music.

(I am tempted to misquote someone or other and say that the beauty of music is proof of the existence of people but I forget who originally made the slightly similar quote about the existence of God)

Barney, as usual, is listening to music while cooking.  (He uses it as company and distraction during the boring bits of cooking and journeys and other stuff like that)  Also as usual, his cooking style reminds me of that good old saying about inspiration and perspiration and genius.  It occurs to me that cooking consists of  1% food and 99% clearing up.   Funny how some people can produce lovely food using only 1% of the total requirements for the task.  There’s some genius at work there.

And I’ve been away to Leeds which was sunny and yielded up lovely company (Sister in Law and her daughter), delicious food (both Sister in Law’s delicious meals and Greek cuisine at The Olive Tree), a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the most wonderful setting for an exhibition of David Nash’s glorious tree and wood sculptures, a blue sky rainbow and time to start reading the Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.  Not a lot of music unless you count the piano concerto playing in the mini bus at the sculpture park*.

Meanwhile (rather a lot of photos to trawl through from Leeds and subsequent sunny, misty walks so not ready to post yet) is this a doll?

Or a New Gorgeous Babe?

(Answer below**)

And just one or two from the Sculpture park

We weren’t allowed to photograph any of the works which were displayed in galleries which was a shame but I did my best from outside.  Well there was also the interesting effect of the outdoor sculpture revealing glimpses of the indoor ones, in their reflections, to consider.  (Please ignore the tubby, striped figure on the right.  She gets into all my reflection and shadow photos!)

Curves and verticals.  Ash Mound I think this is called?

One would think Barney and Sister in Law were more interested in the view than the sculptures.  Though you cold see distant sculptures on the hillside opposite.

anyway, it’s now sunny and misty again.  I’m off : )

*I’m blowed if I could identify it.  It was either Tchaikovsky’s, Grieg’s or Schuman’s from an album of piano concertos I listened to exhaustively in my youth and from which I therefore can’t distinguish any one from either of the others.

**Yes

***Sorry, I forgot to consider any more music.  Another time?

Children (ours and pthers) play hide and seek amongst a David Nash sculpture.

To me (and I think to TBH) two of the most interesting works Wooden Boulder and Ash Dome could only, by their natures, be represented here by films. (I knew of these two because of the chapter on David Nash in Roger Deakin’s ‘Wildwood’). But there was an awful lot more to see.

Charred David Nash sculpture and action man S. Try charging around like that in an art gallery!

Not only an overwhelming quantity of David Nash stuff but also the permanent exhibition of sculpture by the likes of Henry Moore and Anthony Gormley. Last time we came we were particularly struck by these giant hare-women by Sophie Ryder, but didn’t take photos.

Strange. But strangely compelling.

Last year we made two visits to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield where, as well as looking at the large collection of works by Henry Moore and other permanent or semi-permanent exhibits in the grounds, we saw major exhibitions by Isamu Noguchi and Peter Randall-Page. This year, the YSP are staging a major exhibition of work by David Nash. We went over to have a look at it in August and enjoyed it, but there was so much to see that we decided we needed to go back to have another look, so made the journey back over the Pennines a couple of weeks ago when I had a week off work.

“Black ball”

There were works displayed in all four galleries and outside in the grounds. Several pieces have been created especially for the exhibition, including a permanent installation – the Oxley Bank “Black Steps”.

David Nash principally creates his works from wood, often taking his inspiration from the natural forms of the trees he selects or finds. One aspect of his work I found particularly interesting was his use of “tree quarries” – fallen trees he uses to create several different works.

“Red column”

Some of his works are very large in scale and must have been difficult to transport, move around and install in the galleries. This is particularly the case with “Oculus block” a massive piece of created from  eucalyptus wood from California. The picture below (taken from the gallery’s Flickr site) really doesn’t give a proper impression of its scale.

Oculus Block from the  YSPs Flickr site

From the gallery’s information on this piece:

“Oculus is Latin for eye but is used in this case to refer to a hole that runs down the centre of the piece. The wood cut from the sculpture is arranged against the walls, setting up a kind of rhythm between the centre and edges of the space.”

There’s a simplicity to his works – both in their form and the way he lets the colour of the wood stand for itself, although he does apply colour by staining some of his pieces. He also uses charring effectively. In most cases this is controlled so only the surface is charred, and the natural colour of the wood can be seen in places through cracks and splits.

“Trunk and Butt” – two charred pieces created on site at the Longside gallery.

Unlike many other sculpture exhibitions visitors are allowed to touch most of the works displayed in the indoor galleries – in fact the staff seem to encourage you to do so. (However you are not allowed to touch those works which are charred – too many people touching them would eventually cause damage). Nash is interested in change and is not afraid to let this happen with his work. Wood is affected by the elements and will split, warp and deform even without human intervention as it dries, seasons or absorbs moisture under damp conditions. The changes will be different depending on whether the pieces are displayed indoors or outdoors. The effects can be seen in many of the works on display and you can see how he has used these natural changes as part of the creative process.

Nash also creates living “planted works” where he plays with nature. Examples include the “Ash dome”, “Planted Larches” and “Bluebell ring” created in woodland near his studio. Of course, these can’t be transported across the country, but the final room in the Underground Gallery, the “Project Space”, contains exhibits – drawings, photographs and a video – relating to these works.

Some of the living works will have taken years to plan and realise and Nash must be extraordinarily patient. This was certainly the case with his “Wooden boulder” project. He carved a boulder like shape from a section of one of his tree quarries at his home and studio near Blaenau Ffestiniog and dumped it in the nearby river. He followed its progress  down the river to the sea near Portmadog, filming, drawing and photographing it over twenty odd years until it disappeared out to sea. There was a short video film about the project shown in the , together with some related drawings and other pieces from the same “tree quarry” in the Bothy Gallery.

Not all the works displayed are made from wood – there are a small number of metal pieces – one of them, “King and Queen” displayed near the entrance to the park, a bronze  casting of a pair of wooden sculptures shown in the Underground gallery.

Bronze castings of “King and Queen”

In addition to the sculptures, there were a number of pictures displayed in the exhibition. Again these are quite simple, with only a few strong colours. I also liked his “family trees” , displayed in the Longsight gallery, which illustrated the development and evolution of his work and the connections between the different pieces.

A short documentary film about David Nash’s work and the creation of the exhibition was showing in the main reception building. Unfortunately copies weren’t on sale, but some sections can be viewed online on the YSP’s Vimeo channel.

Online Gallery on the Guardian website

Pictures from the YSP Flickr site

Click on the photo and you will be taken to Art Ltd. Magazine’s website where you can read the full article.