David Nash: 49 Square
Art Outdoors /David Nash: 49 Square
49 Square was created by Nash in 2013 as a permanent work in the YSP landscape. It comprises 49 Himalayan birch trees, which, planted in seven rows of seven, will grow to form a white cube on the lake’s embankment.
This work relates to Ash Dome, a pivotal work created by Nash in 1977. He planted saplings in woodland in North Wales that over time have created a dome shape through the artist regularly cutting and shaping the trees, so they grow in a certain way. Like Ash Dome, 49 Square is also a ‘living’ sculpture.
Making art outside is completely different from working inside. [Inside] we’ve got four walls, a flat floor and ceiling. We’ve neutralised the elemental forces. As soon as you go out there, you are dealing with slopes, wind, air, rain. You are in another dimension. You are not necessarily in competition with it, but you are in it.
- David Nash
David Nash: Ash Dome (drawings)
You might also like
- Art Outdoors
JocJonJosch: Eddy
Eddy continues JocJonJosch’s investigations into collaboration. The round boat with three oars is symbolic of the collective’s dynamic, in which Joc, Jonathan and Joschi wrestle towards a destination. There is a sense that each time one would attempt to move forward, his movement would be countered by the action of the other two, leaving them literally turning in circles. - Art Outdoors
David Nash: Barnsley Lump
Barnsley Lump is a rough-cut block of local coal that connects to the geological and social history of the area. It is gradually disintegrating back into the earth, as Nash anticipated, describing it as a ‘going’ work. - Art Outdoors
Jaume Plensa: Wilsis
Wilsis appears to be deep in thought or dreaming. Her eyes are closed and she is inward-looking and self-contained, remote from the present moment and the beauty of the surrounding scenery. Although monumental in size at over 7 metres high, this sculpture depicts a normal girl, rather than immortalising a traditionally extraordinary or powerful person. - Art Outdoors
Lucy + Jorge Orta: Gazing Ball 2018
Gazing Ball was originally commissioned for The National Trust’s Folly! programme, in which artists create responses to re-imagine lost follies at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, North Yorkshire.
