Yorkshire Sculpture Park Trip

For creative exchange week, year 1 students visited the "Yorkshire Sculpture Park" Below are a few pictures I took during the day and some research about them.

KAWS

Brian Donnelly, professionally known as KAWS was born in 1974, is a New York-based artist and designer of limited-edition toys and clothing. His career began as a graffiti artist, then started subverting imagery on billboards, bus shelters and phone booth advertisements. His work exhibits in museums and galleries internationally. His art stands somewhere between fine art and global commerce. This sculpture comes across as a Mickey Mouse/ skull and crossbones inspired character. The head of each figure looks similar to a skull and crossbone- the ears of the characters are the bones and the eyes resembles an 'X'. These features makes them instantly recognisable as the works of KAWS.

Deer Shelter

The Art Fund in 2007, commissioned a permanent Skyspace by James Turell at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Turell created the skyspace within an 18th century Deer shelter, which consists of a large square chamber with an opening cut in the roof. Through the opening, the visitors are offered a heightened vision of the sky in a place of thought and revelation which harnesses the changing light of the Yorkshire sky.

Iron tree

Iron tree, 2013, by Ai Weiwei is the largest and most complex sculpture to date in the artist's tree series which began in 2009. Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957 and spent his childhood in forced exile. He is a contemporary artist and activist, who collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic games. This six-mete high sculpture is presented in the chapel's courtyard, and was inspired by the wood sold by street vendors in Southern China. Iron tree is constructed from branches, roots and trunks from different trees, combing both the natural and crafted. This sculpture makes a meditative space allowing people to pause and remind themselves of the cycles of nature. 

"Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one’s own imagination – perhaps more importantly – creativity is the power to act. Only through our actions can our expectations for change turn into reality, and only then can our purported creativity build a new foundation, and only then is it possible to draw out human civilisation" -Ai Weiwei 30 January 2008.

This quote from Ai summarises values, where creativity is used as expression, resisting restrains in the face of adversity and considering what really matters, such as being passionate enough to change, or at least attempt to change, 

Galloping Horse

Galloping Horse, 2012 by Julian Opie who was born in London in 1958 is an iconic LED sculpture which shows an animated horse running. Opie uses a process which involves the stripping back of photographed images of his subject matter to the bare minimum which leaves just a few lines that makes something unique and recognisable. Galloping Horse uses this process to reinvent the classical equestrian sculptures frequently seen around city centres.

(The lake and woodlands in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park)