Sunday Stroll – Westward

~ tidalscribe.com

Today’s stroll goes west to find a new artwork.

Choose rocket, cliff lift or steps (lots of them).

The cliff lift is now working since last time we were here.

Danger seems to lurk wherever we go…

Is this the most unsafe building you have ever seen?

Walk past to see it from all angles…

I haven’t been able to find out much more. It is called Lean Into the Wind and she is indeed leaning into our prevailing South Westerly. It apparently cost £54,000, though that amount had increased to a rumoured £60,000 among local dog walkers. I did get to chat to quite a few people who had all come to see it for the first time. Me and a dog walker liked the head… Everyone else thought it a waste of the council’s money, though it appears to have been paid for by the British tax payer. We all wondered exactly what it was about with remarks like ‘she’s got cherries on her ears’ and ‘she’s got a lizard on her head’. There are symbols on top of the pillars, which I couldn’t see properly with my cataracts... As for who she is, presumably she can be who you like.

So let’s go back down by lift or you can run down the zig zag which is fun.

You might hazard a guess what is going on down at the promenade.

Who do you think she is?

Do you like the art work?

33 thoughts on “Sunday Stroll – Westward”

  3. Always nice to see ‘home’.

    I like to lean into the wind – I’ve done it quite a few times while windsurfing! I like a bit of art, although there is a question about spending that kind of money in a cost of living crisis. But I suppose looking at a serene face gazing out to sea makes us feel better 🙂

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  6. I think public art adds to the quality of life in an area, providing it is done artfully, of course. That being said, I don’t have any issue with someone wanting to be able to review plans and discuss actual implementation with the powers-that-be before it is installed. Or, have designated areas where artists can create on-demand. Indeed, people always complain about the cost…and then…”oh, isn’t that lovely.”

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  9. Public art definitely has a place, even if taxpayers have to pay for it. The trouble is not everyone agrees about which pieces are worthwhile. The municipality where I live features multiple pieces of sculpture every year, and a few are eventually made permanent. The only one I definitely disliked was a giant plastic (or maybe fiberglass) nose, colured pink and quite realistic, mounted on a tall pole. It was in a small park not far from my house so I had to see it far too often. Fortunately it disappeared at the end of the year.

    That lift looks like fun; have you gone up or down on it?

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    1. Hello Audrey, I think you are winning the challenge for seeing the silliest art and having to keep looking at it!
      I haven’t been in that lift, but have been in my nearest one, only when we have visitors, cheaper and healthier to walk up and down, but they are a Godsend for anyone who can’t make the climb back up again. If you are disabled you have o keep your eye on the time as they close by 5pm. There were three, now only two working as the other one was in a landslide and the cliff not stable enough to fix it.

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  10. That sculpture doesn’t really do much for me but I do like having public art. It is certainly better now than the statues of the great and (really not very) good of earlier times.

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  11. I don’t have any clue who she is; but I strongly resonate with her. I think, like me, she has strong facial features. Her expression feels resolute to me. In total, a strong, fine-with-herself woman. Like good art elicits, I’m sure I’m projecting.

    I have had cataracts removed from both of my eyes and am grateful to have 20/20 eyesight again(with glasses). I had avoided nighttime driving before surgery, and it became a habit. I continued to avoid it. I ended up driving in the dark and the rain a couple of weeks ago and I could see just fine. What a relief!

    I hope you experience improved vision as well!

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  12. I don’t have any clue who she is; but I strongly resonate with her. I think, like me, she has strong facial features. Her expression feels resolute to me. In total, a strong, fine-with-herself woman. Like good art elicits, I’m sure I’m projecting.

    I have had cataracts removed from both of my eyes and am grateful to have 20/20 eyesight again(with glasses). I had avoided nighttime driving before surgery, and it became a habit. I continued to avoid it. I ended up driving in the dark and the rain a couple of weeks ago and I could see just fine. What a relief!

    I hope you experience improved vision as well!

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    1. Thanks Lorna, true art if she resonated with you. I would love to see more of her and as a figurehead, not stuck on the rusty metal! Glad to hear you were pleased with your new lenses.
      PS For some reason you keep ending up in my spam folder

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  13. I like the statue, but I would prefer it to be all one colour. Either silver like the head, or ‘rust’ like the gown. And I can’t see how the two rust-coloured posts behind are adding to it. But I am no art expert. Just out of interest, how much is a ride on the cliff lift these days?

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. ‘Single ticket: £3.00 (one-way)Group single (4 people): £9.007-day unlimited pass (per person): £15.30
      You can’t get a return ticket…’
      I suppose one day I might need to use it, but I only go on with visitors! The Tuckton ferry across the River Stour costs £1.50 one way, takes about the same amount of time.
      Yes Pete it seems we could all have commissioned the art a little differently if they had asked us.

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  14. I don’t have any clue who she is; but I strongly resonate with her. I think, like me, she has strong facial features. Her expression feels resolute to me. In total, a strong, fine-with-herself woman. Like good art elicits, I’m sure I’m projecting.

    I have had cataracts removed from both of my eyes and am grateful to have 20/20 eyesight again(with glasses). I had avoided nighttime driving before surgery, and it became a habit. I continued to avoid it. I ended up driving in the dark and the rain a couple of weeks ago and I could see just fine. What a relief!

    I hope you experience improved vision as well!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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