Two in a week…

must be a record.

Sound installations, that is – although strictly speaking, this one is a sound and light installation.

A week later than originally planned, as plumbing and 3d artefact making were finished [and in the later case, handed in :>)], we decided it was time for an art day out in Salisbury.

We started at Salisbury Arts Centre, where we looked at the UK Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. I’d seen it before – or a close relative – Wensleydale hadn’t. I think he was somewhat underwhelmed – and there was definitely too much acrylic for me.

After an enjoyable lunch in the Arts Centre’s excellent cafe, we made our way to the Cathedral, to see Bruce Munro's ‘Water Towers’. Looking at that link, I notice that it now says that it is best viewed after dark – which is what everyone we spoke to told us– and we are intending to go back one evening. However, we enjoyed looking at the way the lights changed in response to the music - more beautiful church music, although more recent that the Tallis we listened to on Saturday.

You may think Munro’s use of several hundred plastic bottles is odd – but for me, their shape references the wonderful columns in the cloister. He has another piece in the Cathedral, ‘Light Shower’, although I found that less moving.

After wandering round the Cathedral, admiring the font, the Whistler glass prism and the textiles, we indulged in a couple of scones and tea in the cafe, and a little retail therapy in the shop, including a leaflet on the aforementioned textiles.

This was  our first visit to Salisbury since Wensleydale’s knee problem/sciatica started, and the first time we have not parked on the outskirts, and walked in. Although there is good disabled parking provision, the complexities of Salisbury’s one way system encouraged us to use the park-and-ride next time!

Another Tuesday trip.

This time to Salisbury. I had noticed that there was an exhibition by Peter Eugene Ball in the Cathedral and as W. is never reluctant to visit Salisbury Cathedral, off we went.

We started off, as usual, with lunch at Salisbury Arts Centre. - good cafe with rather a nice Art Gallery attached. The current exhibition  is ‘Birdland: An Artist’s Imaginary Aviary’ – which could have been naff – but wasn’t. I particularly liked Mahali O’Hare’s deceptively simple canvases with almost stencil-like birds – there's one on the link – but Lizzie Sykes’ video installation of a magpie was fascinating to watch.

Then we wandered over to the Cathedral for the exhibition by Ball.  He uses driftwood or other pieces of weathered timber with bronze and other metals.

There were some secular pieces but although I’m not a Christian I preferred the religious ones – like a cross between medieval reliquaries and the Benin bronzes. The pieces looked completely at home in the setting of the Morning Chapel of the Cathedral, especially those set in the wall niches,

and the Madonna and Child in front of the altar. [I took lots of photos but the ones on his website are much better quality.]

 

 

 

 

 

Of course there are a lot of sculptures outside the Cathedral as well, like this one

 

 

 

 

 

and this rather worried looking gentleman who we were told was a fairly recent arrival.

 

 

 

 

 

On the way out of the Close afterwards I spotted some rather exuberant flowers.  I hadn’t realised before that petunias are scented – well, I think it was the petunias, there were quite a lot of other things there as well.

 

 

 

And when we got back to the car park I couldn’t resist this little fellow, masquerading as a fire hydrant.