Upon Reflection (B&W)

Antony Gormley's Sound II Sculpture, Flooded Crypt. Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, UK

 

As I approached the ‘Front Desk’ in Winchester Cathedral my mind kept thinking should I have to pay to visit my local Cathedral? They now want £12.50 for entry which covers 12 months. I was quite conflicted between hating to pay to go into a place of worship and recognising the up-keep costs must be tremendous and I was going there to look at Luke Jerram’s Moon (see previous post). I felt that as I was there to sightsee I should just accept it as a reasonable charge and it did cover 1 year.

 

“Is it OK if I take photos?” I asked as my Canon R5 was held tightly in my fist. I pretty much knew the answer but thought I’d ask. Basically it was OK if I was posting on Faceache or Instaselfie (thanks for that phrase Dom!). As I tapped my card and took my ticket I heard “Oh by the way sir…if you go into the crypt it’s flooded so you can get a nice reflection of the statue in there”. Well, what a nice man!

Therefore after shooting the moon I headed down to the Crypt to see what this was all about as I admit I’ve never been in the crypt before.

 

The statue is called “Sound II” and was made by Anthony Gormley (he of The Angel of the North’ fame) and erected in 1986. As he often does, Gormley used his own body to cast the distinctive, moody sculpture, first in plaster. The final piece was then fashioned around the plaster form from sheets of lead, soldered at several joints. The result is both smooth and broken, matte in finish yet gently glowing.

 

The installation of the sculpture was part of an effort by the cathedral to introduce contemporary art into the Gothic masterpiece

 

Winchester Cathedral was founded, in its original incarnation, in the year 642. That first building is close by, but was replaced a few hundred years later with this one, one of the largest cathedrals in all of Europe, dating to the year 1079. The crypt is some of the earliest stone work completed, surviving intact to this day.

 

“Sound II” stands like a sentry beneath the nearly 1,000-year-old stone mass, and it is often knee deep as the Crypt routinely floods during the rainy months. The sculpture can often be found holding water in its cupped hands, silent in contemplation as the level rises around him to cover the stone floor. There is a tube mechanism through the body, so as the water rises it fills his cupped hands. The metal man seems unfazed by the outpouring

 

Having scouted the crypt and taken a number of hand-held shots when I returned the next day with a micro-tripod I went down again to reshoot from the lower step on the viewing platform. This required some untypical dexterity on my part as I had to shoot at foot level all hunched over trying to get my fingers on the right knob on the ball head when I could not actually see the knobs. Oh and also try not to aggravate my back in the process!

 

I decided to do both colour and B&W edits. I think both work and leave it to you viewers to choose which you prefer.

I gather there is another sculpture in the crypt but it’s tucked out of sight so unless the floor is dry and it’s open to walk through you can’t see it. One for a drier month maybe.

 

© All rights reserved to Steve Pellatt. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.

Done