"IN THE SULCUS OF HER BUTTOCKS LAY ALL THE POSSIBILITIES OF A SEXUALLY BENEVOLENT PSYCHOPATHOLOGY."

Photo by Van Credenza       www.vancredenza.blogspot.com

Well,that line from JG Ballard is what comes mind when I look at this strangely erotic sculpture,but maybe that's just me.You may well see something very different.
The photograph was sent to me by my colleagues at "Van Credenza Blogspot" & shows the latest sculpture to be installed on The Forth & Clyde Canal, near  The "Bog" en route to the upgraded Marina at the Falkirk end.It joins the oversized metal horses,or "Kelpies" already there(& around the Falkirk Wheel),& is part of the local authorities' attempts to renew the area.
Made of Steel,this artwork is big,it's installation necessitating a very pricey landscaping effort--a lot of trees were removed to position it here.I haven't actually seen it yet,but am assured that it is the length of a public house,or at least,The Commercial Hotel at Larbert Cross.It looks weirdly attractive & should rust quite nicely.
Public Art Sculpture commissions seem to be all the rage these days.Local authorities the length & breadth of the land seem to be in competition to see who can put up the maddest & most ludicrously overpriced.Maybe--at least in PR terms--it's the "Angel of the North" effect.
In Scotland it seems to be the same sculptor all the time:Andy Scott.I wonder what other,underemployed hewers of wood & marble think?He seems to be cleaning up in the public-funded Art Sweepstakes--everywhere you look--at least in Central Region--you will come across big hands sprouting semi-mermaids or nodding horses' heads,modelled on computers & fashioned from small,multiple units.This system of sculpting,of which there is probably a name, was amusing at first--small "units" such as matchstick heads,buttons, jam-jars or tyres used to construct a larger shape--but is starting to piss me off.Like architecture,but unlike music or paintings,the public has no say in whether they have to look at these things or not.
One of my favourite scenes in the film,"Fight Club" was where the main character set his acolytes various,anarchic tasks,including one where they were charged with "Destroying Public Art",including one giant ball,exploded loose of it's moorings & sent rolling down a boulevard....