Friday, July 06, 2018

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - Part Two

Continuing with details of our visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture park from my last post about Mister Finch. It has taken me a while to get around to writing this second part as the heat is getting to me, I can't seem to find a cool spot and my brain seems unable to grasp the simplest things.  It has taken me three days in the cooler hours of the early morning to finish it so here goes......

After a quick lunch we set off to see the other exhibitions.  We've visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park a couple of times before and had seen most of the permanent sculptures which are dotted around the parkland so we concentrated on the temporary exhibitions.

In the Georgian chapel was what I thought was a wonderful exhibition -
Beyond Time by Chiharu Shiota.  The installation was made expecially for this space.

It is made from two thousand balls of woollen thread and seems to weave its way quite magically across the extent of the chapel floor and up into the ceiling.

Most of the threads come from the bare piano structure which is set slightly off centre.  I hope the visitor doesn't mind being in my photo which I took from up in the balcony.   I thought she added scale and her face is hidden by the pretty sun hat and she is completely absorbed by what she can see.

Shiota was inspired to use the piano as part of the structure as there wasn't a musical instrument of any kind in the chapel.  She also took her inspiration from a childhood memory of seeing the skeletal remains a neighbour's piano after a house fire.

The sheets of music trapped and woven into the woollen threads represent the scores of all the music that is recorded as having been played or sung in the chapel over the years and also an historic bell ringing score.
We left the chapel and wandered over the parched grass to find the next exhibition.

The Coffin Jump by Katrina Palmer is one of the WWI centenary art commissions by 14-18 Now.

It was inspired by the history of an extraordinary group of women who became the first all female First Aid Nursing Yeomanry which was founded in 1907.   The exhibit is sometimes accompanied by both sound and performance which is activated by a horse and rider jumping over but when we saw it it was quite still in its peaceful surroundings.


The nurses would rescue men straight from the battlefield thus making a direct link between the front line with the field hospitals.  In spite of the nurses' undoubted courage the British army would not support them as they didn't like to be associated with what they saw as  'liberated' women.  The nurses concentrated their efforts and skills in helping the French and Belgian armies by running hospitals and driving ambulances.

The words on the jump are taken from the diaries and other sources of members including nurse Muriel Thompson.  Phrases like 'Woman saves Man' 'Cut to Pieces' and 'Nothing Much Happened' highlight the heroism of these women.

We returned to the main galleries and had a quick look around the exhibition 'A Tree in the Wood' by Giuseppe Penone.  Central to the exhibition is Matrice a 30 metres long fir tree which has been cut in half and dissected along one of its growth rings.  I would have liked more time to explore the outside parts of this exhibition but we had to leave and get on our way home.

 I've put links to all three exhibits in each part if you want to follow up and find out more.

22 comments:

  1. Two wonderful exhibitions. I particularly loved the one in the chapel. Your photo with the lady in the hat is great. Cooler in Jersey today. A bit of a sea fret and then a slight breeze. Much nicer. Hope it cools slightly for you soon. B x

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    1. Oh how lovely for it to be cooler for you, it is so hot here - the lawn is brown and trees are losing dry leaves. I was so glad we saw the exhibition in the chapel it was wonderful:)

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  2. Beyond Time by Chiharu Shiota... Gorgeous... -happy sigh-

    The other 2 are wonderful also.

    Have never heard of the women, which The Coffin Jump commemorates. Women, far ahead of their time. Doing brave, brave things, whether supported or not. -sigh-

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    1. I think Beyond Time was my favourite of the three exhibitions it was wonderful:)

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  3. Lovely post Rosie. Like you, the heat has got to me. I can hardly string two words together! x

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    1. Thanks Simone. I thought I saw a new post from you but when I went back to comment it had gone, hope all is well:)

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  4. Beyond Time is quite an installation! Wow!

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  5. I really enjoyed this post, I would be in the YSP all the time if I lived nearby. 😊

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    1. It's about two hours away for us but worth the journey, it's a great place:)

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  6. Fascinating. I've looked at the links too. It looks like a really good day out. Thanks, Rosie. x

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    1. It is lovely to spend the day there as there is so much to see with both the permanent collection and the temporary ones. Carparking cost a bit and the food in the cafe is pricey but you can take a picnic which we have done on previous visits:)

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  7. Hello Rosie, it looks like a lovely park.
    The installation in the chapel is beautiful.

    Ida

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    1. Thank you Ida, yes it is a lovely place to visit and I loved the chapel installation:)

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  8. Great idea and exhibition! !

    Sandra

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    1. Thanks Sandra, glad you enjoyed the post:)

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  9. Have enjoyed seeing both posts. Beyond Time is fantastic and I think the person in the hat adds to the photo, but yes it does help with perspective-what a beautiful creation.

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    1. Thank you Suzie. Glad you enjoyed both posts about the YSP both The Wish Post and Beyond Time are both wonderful exhibitions and I'm so glad I was able to see them:)

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  10. I've been feeling much the same in this heat. Every day I wake up hoping it's raining! This looks like a very interesting exhibition.

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    1. Thanks Louise, the heat is really getting to me now as I'd love to be going out and about and taking walks but it is just too hot, the garden is suffering too:)

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  11. I find this fascinating. Thanks for sharing it here, otherwise I would never know of it.

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    1. Thank you Kay, I'm glad you enjoyed the post:)

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