Forum Topic

New Piece of Public Art For Town Centre

My criticism of it is there is no citation to show this is a quote from Formby. Knowing that enhances the art.

Graham Weeks ● 2801d22 Comments

As an artist myself I can only say that the block of stone in the new Centre is totally boring. What's more  any A level student could produce a much more exciting design in stone or wood . Beggars belief that the many artists and designers in the Borough of Ealing were not asked to submit a design.  Planning permission is not needed  . How about the town artists getting together and  making another one and placing it in another position ? Worth thinking about

Beryl Bashford ● 2794d

havent seen it.Also not entirely sure of location.Apparently its not what you see but what you look at!I discovered that at the Saatchi gallery last week, hmm

Peter Yale ● 2795d

Agreed. But its proximity to Lloyds Bank makes it look like one of their's.

Graham Weeks ● 2796d

It is a darn site better than the lump of rock - aka first rock from the slum

Libby Kemp ● 2796d

So I am warming to it. And I did watch Her Majesty unveil it.

Graham Weeks ● 2796d

I think I read that the British Army used the Ardennes Heavy Horse for pulling gun carriages in WW1, when we ran out of our own horses.

Libby Kemp ● 2796d

If that is an Ardennes Heavy Horse perhaps with Brexit we could replace it with a Shire? :-) Bigger and British.

Graham Weeks ● 2797d

I love the way that small children seem to love both the horse and the family group.

Philippa Bond ● 2797d

LibbyI agree totally with your view of the artwork.  I'm sorry I've allowed this thread to become somewhat diverted from its original track, but the mention of George Formby was like a red rag to a bull!I'm afraid the landscaping of the area is along the 'if we gave people (comfortable) benches, they'd only sit on them' mentality

Thelma Leach ● 2798d

I commented on this thread as I find the actual "artwork" a very poor and uninformed choice.  I have no views whatsoever on George Formby.  The quotation from the film is anodyne and to me it was a lazy decision by the developers who paid for it.The Ardennes Heavy Horse at the entrance to Broadway Centre has a sense of place and compared the Family Group in the Centre and the "Lump of Rock" with the Hallmark ditty I find a more satisfying piece of work.I do not know who from the council is responsible for the poor choices of the Family Group and the Lump of Rock,  certainly the Planning Committee and Officers would have had to give siting permission.  What worries me is that they also have artistic approval.  Many of the recent planning decisions they have made have not been sympathetic and in keeping with the architecture and conservation of the borough and is of real concern.

Libby Kemp ● 2798d

Thelma: "Oh and more comfortable benches would have been better"AGREEDIn fact, no statue at all but rather a covered seating area with a drinking water dispenser fountain and some tables. At least the unregisterable and destitute would have somewhere to sleep.There is a lack of public seating in the centre of Ealing that is covered against the rain, planned, accidental?Pointless "using up the budget" in these tough times rather than reallocating it to something useful.

Mark Julian Raymond ● 2798d

Sorry if I come over as chippy - must be the heat!I actually think that Max Miller (a favourite of T S Eliot - he liked his comic timing) was a great comedian and Max Wall (whom I was once lucky enough to see live) was a genius.  So we can agree on something after all.I just cannot stand that 'little put-upon man who's not very bright but triumphs in the end' persona.  Must be why I can't stand Charlie Chaplin either, although I acknowledge that he was also a multi-talented genius.

Thelma Leach ● 2798d

Hi Thelma..why so chippy? No, I can't stand Norman Wisdom and don't exactly spend my evenings watching Formby movies or listening to his 78's. The greats from that era imo and just beyond (as Wisdom was)include Formby,Frank Randle, Max Miller and Max Wall, although I doubt you would give any of them much credit.I have never heard that Formby was Stalin's favourite, but it was probably because he was by far the biggest star in Britain and most likely his films were all the popular culture old Josef was able to get his filthy hands on.

Keith Iddon ● 2799d

I agree that Formby was a man of his time - and am glad that time is over. He was Stalin's favourite comedian, apparently.I bet you like Norman Wisdom as well - big in Albania .....The sculpture is still horrible.

Thelma Leach ● 2799d

I am also a fellow Lancastrian and Formby was a man of his time and a well loved entertainer with a unique place in British cinema and music halls ,otherwise we would not be still referring to him 70 years later.I do agree about the statue or whatever it is.It's obscure and meaningless.

Keith Iddon ● 2800d

It is not a quotation by Formby, it is something he said - unless he wrote his own film scripts.We have very little public art in the borough, recently having lost "Big Mother", this would have been a great opportunity to commission something of merit.This rock with a trite message will do nothing to help Ealing's future bid to be a Borough of Culture.Suggest we ask Christo to come and "wrap" it.

Libby Kemp ● 2800d

Formby were grand and Her Majesty is a fan of his too - and I write as a Yorkshireman.

Graham Weeks ● 2801d

I didn't know that the words on this piece of 'art' were a quotation from George Formby.  However, had I known that it would not have affected my view of it.It's complete and utter meaningless rubbish.  And so, coincidentally was George Formby... And I say that as a Lancastrian.Surely we could have come up with something better?  Oh, and more comfortable benches would have been good too!

Thelma Leach ● 2801d

perhaps we could get a bust of cristiano ronaldo. perhaps the original one??

Peter Chadburn ● 2801d

Why was there no competition to encourage local artists? Who decided on it? The developers? Planning permission not needed?

Graham Weeks ● 2801d

Looks to me like something purchased from a Garden Centre.Developers doing things on the cheap again? So Rachel Whiteread and Anthony Gormley may be a little expensive but surely a better piece could have been commissioned? Come on Ealing you can do better than this. Please tell me it is only temporary until a more challenging piece is erected.

Libby Kemp ● 2801d

The citation would enhance the art - it would make it ever so slightly less inane. Is this the best that could be dug up from Ealing's cinematic history? Are there no actual poets that could be celebrated? The particular quote would be appropriate on a 10 year old's Facebook page, not etched into rock and placed in perhaps the most prominent place in Ealing. Why does public art have to be so bad? Just plant a tree!

John Dickinson ● 2801d