Protest over roundabout sculpture

[Merlion]

I agree it is not a suitable sculpture for the location. But still I am surprised some local residents hated it so much that they hold a 12-hour vigil.

Protest over roundabout sculpture (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/6769355.stm)

19 June 2007, Protesters who want a £100,000 sculpture removed from the middle of a Warwickshire roundabout have held a 12-hour vigil.

The armillary - a 16th Century tool showing the planets orbiting around the sun - is .... in Stratford.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42792000/jpg/_42792595_armillary203.jpg

An artist, Mick Thacker, has said the sculpture, which appeared in April, would be loved by people in time.

He said New York's Statue of Liberty "started with public discord" at first. ....

P.S. I thought I had mentioned this armillary sculpture in this forum sometime ago. But somehow I cannot search to find it anymore.

[justme]

Gee wiz, am I missing something? I think it's cool. What's the deal?
j

[Merlion]

What is missing about this sculpture? By burying it half in the ground, the sculptor missed an important point about this armillary instrument. It has to be seen whole, like this below. .

http://www.davidharbersundials.co.uk/images/corporate/eton2.jpg

There is also the safety concern.

[evaldart]

We sculptors cannot help but like spheres. It would be very satisfying if all I did was make variations of them over and over...a career well spent. Cubes are okay too, but inferior by their unwillingness to move. No visual potential for activity. "rolling" is a universal reaction to the very forces that began it all.
If a baseball was a "basecube" Ty Cobb would have batted .220 and no one would have showed up to watch him play. If a basketball was a basketcube micheal Jordan would have averaged 11 points per game (and Shaq would NEVER hit a free throw). A game of pincube would only be about watching the lights and hearing the bells. Cube-bearings would turn a lazy Susan into a Toiling Susan. Gumcube machines would always take your money, jammed-up all the time.
Gotta love the sphere.

[fritchie]

I think both of these are fine, excellent spatial examples of a relatively simple concept that has been around for centuries. It's mainly visual pleasure, with a touch of mystery by connecting with the universe.

I suppose the argument is the common one with traffic circles or roundabouts, and safety. That's both a good safety critique and a dismal comment on the visual environment. When it's new, people may look and be distracted. As it ages for even a year or so, it will become a familiar site and fade into the visual background. Although a site of high visibility appeals to community leaders, I've come to the opposite side over the last year or so. I consider traffic safety a serious issue, and I think the sculpture itself would be better served in a less-traveled location.

[Julianna]

I, too, don't understand why people are protesting it. The BBC article, surprisingly, doesn't provide any details on that either. The photo is quite small, and without getting a closer look it doesn't look any more or less safe than a jungle gym on a school playground...