Sword, Llanberis
7 January 2018
Llanberis
SH 57754 60521; 53.12282°N, 4.12714°W
The 6m sculpture of a sword was installed in a car park on the bank of Llyn Padarn in Llanberis in November 2017. The artwork was erected at a cost of £14,000 as part of the Year of Legends tourism campaign in Wales and is said to be symbolic of the princes of Gwynedd. The sculpture has met with a mixed reception locally.
Rhug Estate
26 August 2017
Rhug, Corwen, Denbighshire
SJ 05302 43642; 52.98171°N, 3.41193°W
Rhug Estate in Denbighshire, which covers some 5,000 hectares, is the main estate of Robert Vaughan Wynn (b 1949), 8th Baron Newborough. The organic farm extends over around half of the area of the estate, and features a farm shop, the Bison Grill restaurant and the On the Hoof takeaway. The farm started wholesaling in 2004 and its organic produce is exported internationally and is supplied to establishments such as the Ritz and the Dorchester in London and the seven-star Burj Al Arab in Dubai. An unexpected sight in the fields of North Wales, the farm’s herd of bison has become something of a tourist attraction.
Standing guard…
26 August 2017
Chirk, Wrexham Country Borough
SJ 26890 38042; 52.93476°N, 3.08920°W
Quantum Leap
24 August 2017
Darwin Memorial Geo-Garden, Mardol Quay, Shrewsbury
SJ 48964 12740; 52.70989°N, 2.75684°W
The sculpture Quantum Leap, by Ranbir Lal, Colin Pearce and Mervyn Rodrigues, is located in the Darwin Bicentenary Memorial Garden, which was inaugurated on 8 October 2009.
“Quantum Lead was designed by studying patterns and forms in nature such as flowers, shells and DNA double helix.
“The form of Quantum Leap evokes the local and incidental forms you find when visiting Shrewsbury: such as the arches of the bridges over the River Severn and the patterns formed by boats skulling on the river.”
— Information plaque
Vitellus [sic] Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Augustus
CE 15 – 69, Roman Emperor for eight months in CE 69
The Herbert family bought a total of 12 marble busts of Roman emperors in the 17th century as souvenirs of their trips to Italy. Each bust weighs 150 kg.
23 August 2017
Powis Castle, Welshpool
SJ 21494 06513; 52.65063°N, 3.16188°W
Slate or State in the Grand Hall, Penrhyn Castle
2 July 2017
Penrhyn Castle, Llandegai, Bangor
SH 60219 71962; 53.22624°N, 4.09534°W
The installation, entitled Slate or State, is on display in the Grand Hall of Penrhyn Castle from 1 July until 5 November 2017.
“This sculpture was developed as part of a year-long residency by artists Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich. It is a symbolic object; its form is drawn from Victorian paintings and sketches of Penrhyn Quarry, the quarry once owned by Lord Penrhyn.
“The choice of material for the sculpture draws inspiration from the history of protest, and large-scale inflatables that since the 1920s have taken to the streets in collective actions that have called for a fairer society.
“Walker and Bromwich are known internationally for their large-scale participatory events and exhibitions that invite audiences to imagine better worlds. Their residency at Penrhyn Castle was the final act of a three-year collaboration between Arts Council Wales and the National Trust, and their brief was to “interrogate the castle’s controversial history, the stories surrounding it and its relationship with local communities”.
“The focus of the work is the Great Strike of 1900-03, a bid by the men of Penrhyn Quarry to improve their working conditions.
“Walker and Bromwich have worked with individuals, schools and community groups in the quarry town of Bethesda to develop this sculptural work. This sculpture was the focal point of a symbolic event that paid tribute to the local community, which staged the longest strike in British industrial history.
“On 1 July 2017 the Penrhyn Choir processed this sculpture from Bethesda into the Grand Hall. During this performance the original demands of the Great Strike, combined with demands of today, were sung by the choir: colliding in time two points in history where working conditions have been at the forefront of social change.”
– Sara Roberts, Curator
Penrhyn Castle;
Great Strike;
Penrhyn Quarry;
More posts in the Penrhyn Castle Series
British Ironwork Centre
23 April 2017
Oswestry, Shropshire
SJ 33163 27822; 52.84373°N, 2.99377°W
British Ironwork Centre;
All posts in the British Ironwork Centre series
