Folkestone Mermaid
Meet Georgina Baker, who has been selected as the model for Cornelia Parker's recreation of Copenhagen’s famous The Little Mermaid statue sculpted by Edvard Eriksen. Georgina is 38 years old and a mother of two. She's in good shape, as you can see, and her selection proves there's no ageism in Folkestone; but is the world ready for a Matronly Mermaid? And is a former Turner Prize nominee the right artist for the job? It's going to cost £25,000 to find out. This isn't the worst of it! At a time when Local Government Minister Bob Neill is telling local councils that the age of vanity makeovers is over (CLICK) Shepway District Council has commissioned 19 international artists to create "a cutting-edge contemporary art exhibition in the public domain" for the Folkestone Triennial 2011, which will take place from 25 June to 25 September (title link). Will it bring in the punters? It has certainly drawn the attention of BBC News (CLICK, CLICK) and of ArtDaily (CLICK).
Correction: the artists were commissioned by The Creative Foundation, not by Shepway District Council.
posted by Unknown @ 13.1.11
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hi there,
We like the exposure that your blog post is giving the arts in Folkestone, however we would like to point out that Shepway District Council has not commissioned the 19 artists, this has been done by The Creative Foundation. Shepway District Council supports its local arts and indeed The Triennial, but in this instance has not funded it. Many Thanks.
Thanks for the correction. I like to get things right.
I did visit the website of Shepway District Council before writing my post, although I didn't link to it, and it does give the impression that the Council commissioned the 18, 19 or 22 artists. (I found different numbers on different sites.)
I'll post a correction.
Matronly! Georgina Baker is surely a normal shape. I only hope the sculpture will be life size. The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen is disappointingly small.
The last triennial in 2008 certainly brought people to Folkestone - people who wouldn't normally consider visiting. It also made us locals see the town differently and it left a legacy of 8 of the 22 works which forms the basis of a permanent collection.
I've looked at the Shepway District Council site and there's a clear link to the Folkestone Triennial site. http://www.folkestonetriennial.co.uk/. I'm surprised you didn't look at this before writing your post.
I believe the new statue will be lifesized. They're currently looking for a boulder big enough for Mrs Baker to sit on.
If you click on my title link, it does indeed link to the Triennial 2011 website.
Glad to hear that the money on the first Triennial wasn't wasted and that it was a success.
I'm very cynical about such projects. My own local council has wasted money on a number of art projects that got the raspberry from the locals, such as the giant bird-feeder full of rocks and an installation of stroboscopic lighting to brighten up a slummy area when everyone is asleep in bed. Then there's the gigantic illuminated egg wisk on a busy roundabout; it's bound to cause accidents. Groan!
I think the idea of a lifesized woolly mammoth on another busy roundabout was dropped. That's one up to the locals.
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