| Glaswegian shoes come off for bouncy Stonehenge
A neat idea, you might think. But another part of me is delighted because Sacrilege is awesome, Jeremy was a cool down-to-earth guy, and it's nice to know we're on the same wavelength … in a 'great minds think alike, fools seldom differ' way. "You can be generous about it," said Deller, "and realise that two people can have a very similar idea. Open to myriad interpretations and fantasies over its long history, it has now been given yet another existence through Deller's impish version of a grand public sculpture. According to Ricks: "Jeremy is a lovely man, and I have no reason to doubt his story. It could be something you'd see in a satire on the Olympics or on art. So is this a case of plagiarism? Or sheer coincidence? Are bouncy castles having what in fashion is known as a "moment"? Why, after several millennia of human creativity, have two inflatable megalithic monuments come along at once? Deller became aware of Ricks' sculpture, he said, while researching a manufacturer for Sacrilege. If it does, he will invite Jim Ricks to bring his Poulnabrone Bouncy Dolmen over the border to visit. Let the bounce-off commence. So I decided to bring those two things together, and create a type of hybrid version of Irish identity. The story of the megalithic bouncy castles isn't yet at an end. Ricks said that his sculpture had come out of observing the power of the Poulnabrone Dolmen as a regional and national symbol. Happily for them, he was not minded to. Part of me was like, 'I'm ruined!' It was the same idea done bigger and more visibly. "It's comedic, it's absurd. Finally, he decided to realise the idea for Glasgow International, with the London mayor's office as co-funders. But Deller said that the idea for a bouncy Stonehenge had long pre-dated Ricks's Dolmen. "The Olympics people got really nervous in case Jim decided to sue us," said Deller. Where the works differ, perhaps, is in the nuance. |
Thursday 3 May 2012
Glaswegian shoes come off for bouncy Stonehenge
