[Ena]

Manchester 12 October 2007 to 25 November 2007
Clocked this in The Guide on Saturday. The Guardian say:
‘If the renowned landscape sculptor Richard Long has made a career of creating art out of country rambling, Dan Shipsides makes installations inspired by his penchant for rock climbing. His "climbable sculpture" here is based on the structure of climbs at The Roaches, Staffordshire. Yet, for Shipsides, climbing goes beyond challenging pastime to touch on ideas pertaining to society's problematic relationship with the natural landscape. References are made to the 19th century, back-to-nature philosopher John Ruskin, Benny Rothman, the instigator of the historic 1932 Mass Trespass of the Peak District Kinder Scout, and even avant garde climbers such as the widely revered Joe Brown. The artist's accompanying fragmentary text Angel's Wall gives a taste of the installation's strenuous physicality and multifaceted cross-referencing: "feet up smear on crystals and nipples, wildly break loose with solid dyno up front block, wobble bloody kneed onto block, rock up on massive ripples". ‘

http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/Default.asp?eKey=255&eP=1
 
So: brilliant or bollocks? Meaningful interpretation of the form of rock etc or a fancy woodie? Never thought I’d see Joe Brown described as ‘avant garde’!

[SA Chris]

The artist's accompanying fragmentary text Angel's Wall gives a taste of the installation's strenuous physicality and multifaceted cross-referencing: "feet up smear on crystals and nipples, wildly break loose with solid dyno up front block, wobble bloody kneed onto block, rock up on massive ripples". ‘

That's shit beta for Angel's Wall. More like "work feet up using sidepulls, reach for big pocket, pull up into undercut for left hand using pocket for feet, match undercut and then go for big flutings on the top and rock over rightwards"

[Scouse D]

The guy's made a rubbish wall, realised it was rubbish, then called it art. Bollocks.

[Stubbs]

Genius, I think commentary on this guy's work reached over 100 posts on UKC and it's been summed up nicely in 2 posts here, bravo. 

[Ena]

So Bollocks it is.

Some excellent 'climbable sculptures' at my work, but sadly in view of security. 


The iron slabs are great but the chinese granite looks like cheap concrete. A superb pair up the road at our other building. Never seen chalk on these! And none of them shit panels.

[Monolith]

I feel nauseous when I hear of such 'concepts'. Read this shit for example.

I came across that in an architectural journal somewhere recently and all the critics were loving it talking a load of pseudo-philosophical nonsense about it.

I think the moment you set out to build a 'climbable' piece of architecture or sculpture, you miss the point of why buildering might have any attraction at all. The spontaneity of walking around a city and envisaging problems is the bulk of the enjoyment for me.

Oh and possibly the worst climbing wall in the world at Liverpool University was heralded in the seminal Pevsner architectural guide as something along the lines of a masterpiece. Jesus Christ I pity them fools.

[Houdini]

Gash.   

[Bubba]

Meaningful interpretation of the form of rock etc or a fancy woodie?

Fancy woodie.