‘We shape our landscape, thereafter it shapes us.’ These were Winston Churchill’s words with which Peter Murray OBE concluded his announcement of the artists shortlisted for the UK’s most significant art commission in over a decade. Though it might seem a little showy to be plunging £2 Million into a public art commission as Britain hovers on the brink of recession, there’s much more to be said in the project’s favour.
Primarily it’s a mark of how seriously public art is now taken in the United Kingdom. Following in the footsteps of Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’, which in a short ten years has achieved landmark status as a symbol of and for the local community, it is hoped the Ebbsfleet Landmark will have a similar effect. Towering more than twice the height of the ‘Angel of the North’ and the same size as Nelson’s Column, the five shortlisted artists will develop their proposals, which will then be unveiled in Spring 2008. The winning entrant will be announced shortly after.
Click here to read more about the nominated artists and see some of their most seminal pieces.
Ebbsfleet Valley is one of the fastest developing areas of the UK. Together with the recently opened Ebbsfleet International station, where the new improved Eurostar stops, it is widely anticipated that this relatively unknown patch of North Kent will soon be a gateway pocket of prosperity. And what better way to celebrate this transformation than with a 50-metre high sculpture, towering over (and visible from) each point of the surrounding landscape. Whether approaching by rail, road or even air, the Ebbsfleet landmark will be the first thing one sees.
Of course it’s fitting then that the nominations read like a roll call of current giants in the 3-dimensional art world, each very different in approach and style, each sure to have a very different take on how their proposal could work with the scale and site. The artists are Richard Deacon, Christopher Le Brun, Rachel Whiteread, Mark Wallinger and Daniel Buren.
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