Horizon Field...What the hell are you doing there?

In a recent Guardian article, British sculptor Anthony Gormley describes his latest and final work, addressing his ongoing concern -

“where does the human being fit in the scheme of things?”

 

Following installations of life-sized iron figures on the tops of buildings in London and later New York (Event Horizon) and in the tidal waters of Germany, then to a beach near Liverpool (Another Place) 100 iron body forms have now been installed high in the Austrian Alps, each weighing 630kg spreading over seven valleys to form Horizon Field.

 

He comments: 

“Sculpture doesn’t need a roof or a label. You don’t need to pass over the threshold of an institution in order to experience something that engages your imagination, and with luck, your body. When placed in the outdoors in rain and sunshine, in summer and winter, sculpture, in my view, becomes a potent marker in time and space. People may ask “What the hell is this thing doing here?” and the work returns that question and it responds reflexively “What the hell are you doing here?”

 

On a smaller scale, thinking of the recent installation of Richard Wedekind’s new work, Gutterball at Brick Bay, this article articulates the potential experience of sculpture in the outdoors.