WOMAN Half mile long sculpture UK landscape design

(Reuters) - The world's largest sculpture of a human body is being carved out of the British landscape using more than a million tonnes of rock and soil left behind by coal-mining.

"Northumberlandia," designed by American landscape architect Charles Jencks, will be nearly half a mile long when it is finished in 2013.

The sculpture, of a woman's body, has already been given the epithet `Goddess of the North' by locals in Northumberland in the far northeast of England, a part of the world that is no stranger to grand man-made projects.

Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans, massive baronial castles, coalmines, shipyards and the huge Angel of the North sculpture by Antony Gormley, are all features of its landscape.

The best views of Northumberlandia are from the air, but visitors will be able to see her features up close by wandering the four-mile network of paths that run along the curves of her body.

One-and-a-half million tonnes of soil and clay taken from the nearby Shotton surface mine are being used to make the sculpture, which workers have been crafting for around a year.

Harvard-educated designer Jencks, 71, who was born in Fife, Scotland, said: "This is very much like alchemy; turning coal into energy and landscape into art.

"It offers us the opportunity to create art from the necessity of extracting coal."

Northumberlandia is costing around 2 million pounds and is funded by the Banks Group, the UK firm that operates the mine, and the Blagdon Estate, which owns the land.

Blagdon is the family estate of Viscount Ridley, whose son Matt Ridley, 53, said the idea for the sculpture came from a desire to be innovative.

"People have rightly asked why we are doing this," he said. "We could have submitted an application to simply restore the land back to agriculture, but we wanted to do something different.

"We are making a work of art with a bulldozer, rather than a paintbrush."

The sculpture will be at the heart of a public park being built close to the town of Cramlington near Newcastle.

Greek police seize 2 rare statues from 2 farmers

AP Associated Press
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS

ATHENS, Greece - Police in southern Greece have seized a rare twin pair of 2,500-year-old marble statues and arrested two farmers who allegedly planned to sell them abroad for euro10 million ($12.43 million), authorities said Tuesday.

Police said two Greeks aged 42 and 48 were arrested in the Peloponnese area late Friday as they were loading the illegally excavated figures of young men into a truck. Authorities are seeking a third man suspected of belonging to a smuggling gang that planned to spirit the 6th century B.C. works out of the country.

"This is a very important find, of fabulous value, and (both statues) were ready to be taken out of Greece," Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos said.

Archaeologists said Tuesday the statues are "outstanding works of art" and may have come from a temple or cemetery in a lost ancient city in the Peloponnese region in southern Greece. Both are in excellent condition, but lack sections of their lower legs and were gashed by a plow or digging machinery.

They stand 1.82 meters (5 feet 9 inches) and 1.78 meters (5 feet 8 inches) high, and were probably carved by the same sculptor out of thick-grained island marble between 550-520 B.C, at the height of the archaic period of sculpture.

"They are exactly the same, with a slight variation in hairstyle and a small difference in height," said Nikos Kaltsas, director of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens where the finds were temporarily housed for conservation and study. "The artist may have wanted to produce two similar figures that would form part of a group."

The statues are of the stiff, highly formalized Kouros type widespread in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. which portrayed gods, heroes or aristocrats and were painted in bright colors. From the 5th century on, Greek sculpture became more fluid and lifelike, culminating in the naturalism of the Hellenistic era.

Such discoveries in good condition are uncommon - about three have turned up during excavations in the past decade. But matching pairs are particularly rare.

Although the precise spot of the find is still unclear, authorities believe it may coincide with the lost ruins of Tenea, a city that according to ancient writers lay between Corinth and Mycenae and was first populated by prisoners of war brought back by victorious Greeks from the Trojan War - recorded in Homer's "Iliad." A similar, but slightly earlier statue discovered in what may have been Tenea's cemetery is displayed in Munich.

Archaeologists hope to find the missing leg sections, because the breaks are recent.

Police chief Lefteris Economou said the arrests followed information from culture ministry officials. He provided no details on the identity of the potential buyers or which country the finds had been heading for.

Antiquities looting is a major problem in Greece, where treasures - by law all state property - can lie inches below farmers' plows or modern buildings, especially in cities like Athens that have been constantly inhabited for thousands of years.

Illegally excavated finds can be impressive to look at, but all the valuable context, which in an organized excavation provides information on their use, date and origin, is lost during hasty looting digs.

"Going after antiquities thieves is our main priority," Geroulanos said. "Work has been done in that direction ... and we are starting to see the first major results."

Dozens of illegally exported finds have been returned to Greece over the past few years, including four masterpieces from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.



If you want an ancient looking sculpture but don't feel like smuggling the real thing check out some of our replica pieces like our Perseus Slaying Medusa! Check out all our products here.

('’)

Share
|

Top Ten Reasons to Buy a Bronze Sculpture, Statue, or Fountain

10. Limited Production

During the process of these pieces being made the mould has to be broken, this means that no two pieces are exactly alike. And even though they are similar, styles change so pieces regularly stop being reproduced meaning they are usually fairly rare pieces to own.

9. Unique Way to Add Beauty to a Location

Everyone wants to have a beautiful landscape; be it for a home, business, or public park or courtyard. A bronze sculpture, statue, or fountain is a great way to add beauty and elegance to any landscape, garden, or park. Not only does a bronze get attention, it also adds a bit of tranquility that people are just drawn to.

8. Inherent Natural Beauty

Bronze Sculpture has a natural beauty that is unmatched. Bronze sculpture has been around since ancient times and it still holds our fascination as much now as it did then. Seeing a beautiful work of bronze in a park, garden, or landscape inspires people and the imagination. It has become the gold standard for immortalizing and romanticizing the human experience.

7. Bronze has Historical Significance

The advent of bronze in the 3rd millennia BC brought about a huge advancement in metalworking and brought humanity into a more modern era. When you purchase a piece of bronze art, statue or a fountain you are instantly connected to those early beginnings and help to continue the legacy of this magnificent metal alloy.

6. Versatility of Use

Like the ancient cultures that discovered it, our uses for bronze are infinite. Bronze is mainly known for its use as an artistic medium but it's also used for many other things. Architectural elements, boat parts and propellers, automobile elements, musical instruments, and tools are just a few examples of the immense versatility of the bronze alloy. It has been used during every major advancement mankind has had and will continue to do so long into the future.

5. Monumental Sculpture is Iconic

Adding a monumental statue or sculpture to the front of a building instantly makes that location memorable and iconic. A large bronze trumps a large sign every day of the week. People are conditioned to block out signs because there are so many of them. However, a monumental sculpture or statue will always garner attention. This is due to the unique nature of a bronze and because people always remember seeing something out of the ordinary.

4. Bronze has Intrinsic Value

Unlike other materials used for fountains and sculptures, bronze has an inherent value due to the value of the metal contents. Bronze is mostly made of copper which is a commodity that continues to grow in value. So, by getting a piece now, it's value will only increase over time as the metal prices rise. Also, many pieces are very limited production so they will increase in value over time because of their rarity.

3. Owning Bronze is a Status Symbol

Since bronze has intrinsic value due to the metal and the limited production of many of the pieces created, it's often something that not everyone can afford. By purchasing a piece of bronze art or fountain you're telling the world that you've succeeded in life and you're rewarding yourself for all your hard work. A bronze sculpture not only enhances a landscape, it can enhance your standing in the community.

2. Virtually Maintenance Free

Once you've purchased your bronze statue or fountain you've done most of the work. You can put it in place as is or have it professionally installed for added security and stability. And really, that's it. Once in place there's really nothing else to do but enjoy your piece. It will "age" over time and get that statue of liberty look, but it may take 20 or 30 years for it to happen. If you don't want that to happen there are a couple simple solutions to help protect your bronze piece from the elements.

1. It Lasts Forever!

That's right, it really does last forever. Pieces sitting at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea since the Roman and Greek empires are still be pulled up today looking as good as ever. This is due to Bronze's very high resistance to salt water and the elements. So, when you buy a piece of bronze, be it a statue, sculpture, fountain, or fine work of art, you know it will be an heirloom for your family enjoy for many many years to come.