• 'Field' in the Making
    14/06/2009

    BBC VIDEO CLIP     
    The countdown to Gormley begins.......Last week it was the big install with 40,000 figures being 'planted' in exactly the right place in the Spanish Barn.  This week we have exclusive previews for school and college groups and then, after many months of planning, the exhibition will be open for you to visit from Satuday 27th June.

    Katya Romankevich tiptoes through the work, filling gaps
    Photograph (c) Sarah Bagnall

    The 40,000 figures were laid out under the guidance of the Arts Council Collection, which owns the work.  There are three rules which determine its display: the floor from the front  row must not be visible at all; the colours should condensed with areas of darker and lighter works placed together; all eyes should face in the same direction, towards the front.  The very front rows are full of 'stargazers' whose eyes look up.

    Field's figures were made by a community if families in St Helen's Merseyside, under Gormley's direction, using brick clay and was first shown at Tate Liverpool. 

    Keeper of Art Amelia Marriette states, "The exhibiting of Antony Gormley's Field for the British Isles is the start of a new era for Torre Abbey as a major centre for contemporary arts in the region.  I guarantee that Field will create a very strong impression on all that come to see it and experience its silent message.  Gormley is one of Britain's best known living artists and we know that visitors will travel far and wide to see his work.  It really is the beginning of something much bigger for Torre Abbey and for Torbay."

    Field for the British Isle is open to the public from 27th June to 23rd August in the Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey.  Entry is free but visitors are invited to make a donations to support future exhibitions.   Make a day of it and enjoy a visit to the Abbey or to the surrounding attraction on torre Abbey Meadows.  Visitors to the exhibition will receive vouchers with offers to enjoy the Ultimate Day Out.

    Making Field for the British Isles
    Field for the British Isles was made in 1993 for an exhibition at the Tate Gallery Liverpool by about 100 people of all ages from a local community in St Helens, Merseyside.

    around the world
    Antony Gormley made the first Field, a radiating circle of 150 figures, in 1989 for exhibition in New York.  Later the same year, with 7 student helpers in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, he made a second Field comprising, 1,100 figures in a similar concentric arrangement looking inwards.

    American Field, which became the precursor for later Fields, was made in 1990 by the artist working with brickmakers and their families in the parish of San Matais, Cholula, Mexico.  This Field of 35,000 figures was exhibited to fill gallery and non-gallery spaces as a solid mass facing out, initially in America at the Salvatore Ala Gallery, New York in 1991, touring to Mexico City, La Jolla CA, Washington DC and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada.

    European Field was made with local families and students at Ostra Grevie in Sweden in the Spring of 1993.  The 35,000 figures filled a gallery space at Malmo Konsthall and subsequently embarked on a central European tour, including Warsaw, Llubljana, Zagreb, Budapest, Prague, Bucharest, Vilnius, Riga, Tallin and Stockholm.

    Field for the British Isles, made in late 1993 and first shown in Liverpool, toured from 1994 to Dublin, Llandudno, Edinburgh, Derry and Birmingham.  It was acquired for the Arts Council Collection in 1995 with the support of the Henry Moore Foundation and the National Art Collections Fund and first shown in a non-gallery site by National Touring Exhibitions in collaboration with Gateshead MBC and the Greenesfield BR Works, Gateshead, as part of Visual Arts 96 before coming to the Hayward Gallery,  London in the Autumn of 1996.

    all ages
    A school annex provided the venue for the making of the work.  Field was made by about 100 people during one working week in September 1993. An important dimension to the making of Field was that children, parents and grandparents work together side by side. The communities that live in and around St Helens were contacted through two local schools, Sutton Community High and Sherdley County Primary.

    from earth
    The raw materials, 30 tonnes of clay, were provided by Ibstock Building Products Ltd., at St Helens brick making company.  The company also generously provided use of their kilns and expertise.

    by hand
    The brief was clear: to make the pieces hand-sized and easy to hold, to make sure that the eyes were deep and close, and to get the proportions of the head to the body correct.  Following these instructions, each person developed their own way of working.  They each had a board on which to place their lump of clay, a small pot of water and a pencil to make eye holes.

    developing skills
    Everyone worked together in the hall of the school, stopping for short tea-breaks each morning and afternoon and hot lunches provided by the School Meals Services.  Each person was encouraged to maintain their concentration and to keep looking at their figures as they evolved. By Friday the school was populated by some 40,000 figures.

    into fire
    The figures had to dry for two weeks before they could be fired. They were then transported in five lorry loads to the brick factory and stacked in the Ibstock kilns.  The majority of the figures were placed in the company's main kiln. The different temperatures within the kiln affected the colours and textures of the individual figures.

    installing
    Between 10 and 20 helpers are needed to install the work and there are three rules which determine its display: the floor from the front row should not be visible at all; the colours should be condensed with areas of darker and lighter works placed together; all eyes should face in the same direction, towards to front. The very front rows are full of 'stargazers' whose eyes look up.

     

     

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