Potters Field Brass Map

Entrance to the Old Operating Theatre Museum...

...Saint Thomas Street, Southwark...(just near London Bridge)... ;)

Olympic Site seen from One Canada Square

...and on a related note to my last post (the weather being rather nice again today) a quick shot of the Olympic site, showing (to the right of the stadium, if you click it to zoom in) the "ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture" (at 114.5 metres being the tallest sculpture in the United Kingdom) now complete! Just got one more thing to go and catch up on now...see how the crossrail is coming along! ;)

Testa Addormentata by Igor Mitoraj - Sculpute in Canary Wharf

Time for another little bit of culture, spotted this in Bank Street the other day, and my goodness did it grab my attention, at first glimpse I was convinced I was witness to a decapitated Statue of Liberty...and I know the US aren't quite pulling their weight at the moment (in the global economic sense) but I really did think that this was perhaps a step too far... ;)

Of course, on closer inspection it wasn't anything of the sort...as the sign below quickly told me this was a bronze cast made in 1983 by one "Igor Mitoraj" - a Polish artist who (interestingly) was born in Germany in 1944. Apparently it was first installed in Canada Square (where I would have had much more of a chance of stumbling over it earlier) but now it's outside number 40 Bank Street (if you fancy coming and having a look yourself, it's only two minutes walk from the tube)...

The most striking thing about it, for me at least, is it's completely classical look...a big dose of the surreal is added by it appearing to be just a small part of a much larger classical piece, left, as it were, in it's imperfect form, for later generations to wonder over...It's really very clever to juxtapose those two ideas - that this is a perfect, whole piece of post-modern art mimicking the remains of a damaged masterpiece...

Clever... ;)

"Couple on Seat" - sculpture, Canary Wharf

Time for another bit of culture (for lack of anything else coherent to offer) situated in Cabot Square (named after John Cabot (c. 1425 – 1500) and his son Sebastian (1474 - 1557), Italian-born navigators and explorers who, in the reign of Henry VII, sailed to Nova Scotia, which he claimed for England)...not relevant to the artwork, but at least you can say you learned something today... ;)

This one is on the side of the square, looking out over the bridge that spans the dock to the north of Canary Wharf, it was sculptured by artist Lynn Chadwick back in 2000...dunno why but they kind of make me think of superheroes having a quick break before they go and do their supermarket shopping... ;)

"Original Form" - sculpture, Canary Wharf

Time for another of my local sculptures now, this one, called "Original Form" was carved by Salisbury resident Keith Rand (an ex-cartographic surveyor, turned artist) in 1999. It's set by the bank at West India Dock (in fact almost below West India DLR station) and from the sounds of things was formed from a single Douglas Fir tree (obtained through the forestry commission), which is incredible, because even from fairly nearby (in fact, until you get very close) it's almost impossible to assume it's anything other than purely rusted metal.

Knowing a little more about it, it's actully much more impressive, had I troubled myself to go over and actually make contact with the piece before just assuming what it was constructed from I would have been both suprised and extremly impressed at the efforts gone to in order to construct it (even before discovering that the artist likes to work using the same tools that violin makers favour)...in my mind, it being made from cast iron turned it into a smaller object somehow...as for the name...for those that carve, I suppose the challenge is to find the shape hidden within the object you start with, in this case, the outline and vague shape of the trunk have been retained (so I conclude that we were supposed to *know* what it was made from (whoops!)), then, if you look at the openings the artist has created, (I, anyway) seem to feel a resemblance to burst seed pods, so perhaps a hint at the circular form of nature? Maybe I'm reading too much into it... ;)

It's a lovely thing anyway, just a shame it's a bit hidden away where it has been situated...

Man with Open Arms, Canary Wharf

I love this sculpture, it sums up so much about how I felt when I first came to work here (and indeed how I feel now), I think the original artist (Giles Penny) intended it to appear to be a direct appeal to heaven, but to me it just shouts out feelings of optimism, gratitude, excitement and limitless possibility...a fantastic piece of work in a fantastic location...

I'll take a shot that does it some justice when the weather is better...(sky is far too white today)... ;)

I might just go round and try and find some other sculptures around the place, I have seen about 15 or so just meandering, but I know for a fact that there are more, 40 in fact, just on my little "Canary Wharf" map - a good little project for those sunny summer lunchtimes to come perhaps...? ;)