Anthony Gormley, an English sculptor looked into the future to find a symbol for a region’s past. He saw an angel. Not the biblical winged servants of God that linger in the ether, but an angel arising from the crust of the earth. Upright, grounded and proud. For Gormley it was important that “the angel was rooted in the ground – the complete antithesis of what an angel is.” But why was this so necessary. Gormley tells us:
“People are always asking why an angel? The only response I can give is that no-one has ever seen one and we need to keep imagining them. The angel has three functions – firstly a historic one to remind us that below this site coal miners worked in the dark for two hundred years, secondly to grasp hold of the future expressing our transition from the industrial to the information age, and lastly to be a focus for our hopes and fears.”
I remember local attitudes back in 1998 when this sculpture was unveiled: ‘What a monstrosity.’ ‘Nothing but an eyesore.’ ‘What a waste of money’. How soon attitudes change. Now for many locals this sculptor is an icon of the North of England. It symbolises a proud but tough past and a humble, grounded spirituality as it stands atop of a hill, on the altar of a long gone mine. Northern man, a rugged angel fashioned from steel, feet firmly rooted to the ground, upright, solid and proud. A man made from materials that will withstand all that he faces, steadfast with a spine of steel and built to last.
For Gormley, this Angel represents a region’s cultural history, its present transition and a focus for its future hopes and fears. So what will Northern man become in the future? Will he keep true to the values of his past, its traditions and achievements. Or will his identity go beyond the local as we are all gradually transitioned into the global? Hopefully, the Angel of the North can remain a symbol of collective memory, acting as a beacon guiding us through the forces that now direct our traditions. Long live the mythology of the Northern man, for like the steel within the Angel of the North, it can fashion a man of the future also worth preserving.
An Unlikely Angel
Angel of the North
Anthony Gormley, an English sculptor looked into the future to find a symbol for a region’s past. He saw an angel. Not the biblical winged servants of God that linger in the ether, but an angel arising from the crust of the earth. Upright, grounded and proud. For Gormley it was important that “the angel was rooted in the ground – the complete antithesis of what an angel is.” But why was this so necessary. Gormley tells us:
“People are always asking why an angel? The only response I can give is that no-one has ever seen one and we need to keep imagining them. The angel has three functions – firstly a historic one to remind us that below this site coal miners worked in the dark for two hundred years, secondly to grasp hold of the future expressing our transition from the industrial to the information age, and lastly to be a focus for our hopes and fears.”
I remember local attitudes back in 1998 when this sculpture was unveiled: ‘What a monstrosity.’ ‘Nothing but an eyesore.’ ‘What a waste of money’. How soon attitudes change. Now for many locals this sculptor is an icon of the North of England. It symbolises a proud but tough past and a humble, grounded spirituality as it stands atop of a hill, on the altar of a long gone mine. Northern man, a rugged angel fashioned from steel, feet firmly rooted to the ground, upright, solid and proud. A man made from materials that will withstand all that he faces, steadfast with a spine of steel and built to last.
For Gormley, this Angel represents a region’s cultural history, its present transition and a focus for its future hopes and fears. So what will Northern man become in the future? Will he keep true to the values of his past, its traditions and achievements. Or will his identity go beyond the local as we are all gradually transitioned into the global? Hopefully, the Angel of the North can remain a symbol of collective memory, acting as a beacon guiding us through the forces that now direct our traditions. Long live the mythology of the Northern man, for like the steel within the Angel of the North, it can fashion a man of the future also worth preserving.
Three cheers for Gormley. Hip-Hip…!
References:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethtp/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Gormley
http://www.angelofthenorth.org.uk/
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