- Venue
- Durham Castle
- Location
- North East England
“MISSING LUMIERE GNOME SPARKS ‘TOLERANCE’ DEBATE”
written by Flora Loughridge, Durham University
Challenges were inevitable when Durham University students took on the huge task of building two large-scale installations, inspired by the dazzling displays created for the Lumiere Festival. The student volunteers did not only have to contend with the technical difficulties of assembling ghost and gnome figures out of metal and fabric in the Castle grounds, sourcing and installing battery-powered lights, but also with the stubborn and changeable northern climate.
The project, namedEcho of the Lumiere, was funded by the Master of University College, Professor David Held and was led by SCR member Goshka Bialek, an artist well known internationally for her large-scale sculptures and glasswork. Goshka made her artistic presence felt locally in 2002, when she was the first artist since the sixteenth century to exhibit her impressive work at the centre of Neville’s Screen, next to the main altar in Durham Cathedral. TheEcho of theLumiereinstallations were created and assembled in Goshka’s studio in Durham City, where volunteers from all over the university were given the opportunity to add their own design ideas to the project, whilst learning the welding methods used in Goshka’s own unique artwork. Luckily, the project had technician Ian Garrett and several budding undergraduate engineers on-board, who added their valuable touch to the dazzling display by taking on the responsibility for the ‘electrics’.
Shortly after being installed, the gnome went missing from its new home in the Master’s Garden. The ‘hideous’ sculpture was created to challenge perceptions and provoke debate about what constitutes ‘ugliness’, as well as to push the viewer’s taste and tolerance for visual art to its absolute limits. Goshka had expected the eight-foot figure to provoke a reaction from the public, who were able to view the installation from outside the castle walls, but she had not expected it to disappear overnight, only to reappear days later in the Castle grounds. The Echo of the Lumiere project gave students the opportunity and power to create a unique mark in their environment. But it would seem that even the permission given by the university for them to do this was not enough to secure tolerance and respect for the project and the issues it raises. If anybody would like to challenge the public to further affront, Goshka and her team of student volunteers are still looking for a good home for the gnome!
