Sunday, November 03, 2013

Sculptures by the Sea 2013

Another year at the largest sculpture exhibition in the world.

Some things stay the same: the heat, the crowds, the little fat men (from Danish artist Keld Moseholm), and the same sort of things that just stick upwards.

Different this year: many more pieces that were obviously made from "found" or recycled (rather: re-used) materials.  Some of those works had a cheap feel to them (lots of plastics, some of them clearly not post-consumer waste).  Some, like Subodh Kerkar's Chicken Cafreal, had so much structural integrity that it was not obvious what it was made of.

For me, the clear standout was a staircase to infinity by New Zealander David McCracken.  My eyes were constantly drawn to it; I've not been so attracted to a Sculptures work for a few years.  My 11-year-old son felt the same, but interestingly my 12-year-old daughter wasn't moved: "What's so special about it?"

On the other hand, we all agreed we loved the crows - Mikaela Castledine's East of the mulberry tree - the legend of the ten red crows.  Such rich colours.

Sculptures by the Sea is on until November 10.