Tag: Liverpool

Another Place

I do like my art (especially sculptures; as proved here and here!), however I tend to get a bit freaked out by large statues (this post has some rather terrifying examples) – apparently it’s a thing (lots of people experience it – I promise!!). In particular, statues of people in / near water scare the shit out of me. I don’t know why. I’ve tried quizzing my parents but none of them seem to recall anything from my childhood that might have contributed to this fear – I’m not entirely sure I believe them, but so far they are sticking to their story!

With this in mind, I was a little apprehensive to visit Crosby Beach near Liverpool. Home to 100 ‘Iron Men’ as part of Antony Gormley’s public art work ‘Another Place’.

Spread over 2 miles of coastline, the statues stand at random points across the sand and water, submerged to different degrees depending on the tide.

Feeling brave, I wandered over to look at two of the closest figures. Close up, as they were proportionate to a ‘normal’ person, they didn’t feel so scary and it was actually interesting to see how the weather and water had affected each statue differently. Some were covered in barnacles, some were more mossy and others relatively untouched.

It was a sunny, bright day, packed with hundreds of people enjoying the uncharacteristically warm bank holiday weather. The shouts and sounds of people playing in the sand made the statues seem less freaky and more interesting.

That being said, the statues were actually more creepy from a distance, where the impact of so many still and silent figures could trigger the imagination into thinking they looked slightly closer than before……

I can imagine that if I was to visit on on a cold early morning, when the sounds are limited to the bird cries and sea, I would have a very different experience of the Iron Men.

The Terracotta Army

Every now and again, there is an opportunity to see something spectacular closer to home than you would expect. For 2000 years, the army stood underground in China, protecting the First Emperor in the afterlife. Now, parts of the army are on tour across museum exhibits and we went along to Liverpool to catch a glimpse.

Firstly, I have to say that my expectations were a little too high. In my head, I’d imagined a room full of the army statues, all lined up and impressive. Obviously this wasn’t the case and the actual exhibit only contained about six of the statues. After getting over my disappointment and unrealistic expectations (that took a while!) I dived into the exhibit to look at the statues.

Amazingly, each statue is different, with unique facial features and clothing. Chariots and horses were also part of the life-size army, each recreated as accurately as possible. I was amazed to see small terracotta animals too – pigs, dogs and cats – all part of the army.

Seeing the figures from the army is something that doesn’t happen all the time – in fact it has been 10 years since the last time the army visited the U.K.

Wandering round the exhibit and learning more about China’s history made me want to add China to my list for future travel. With such an interesting history and culture, I’d love to experience it first hand.

Tickets are available for the exhibition here.