This idea won't mean anything unless you know the Angel Of the North is. In case you can't be bothered looking it up, it's a very large piece of public art sculpture, created by the respected artist Anthony Gormley, that sits poised on a hill near Gateshead in the North of England. It takes the form of a large standing figure with long outstretched wings, which are parallel to the ground, and it's all made out of heavy steel. It weighs 200 tons. In fact it's the largest piece of public sculpture in the UK, but it doesn't do much except stand around and have people looking at it "saying wow it's so big". With a little bit of work they could be saying " wow it's so big - and look - it's moving!"

What I would like to do with the Angel of the North is to convert it to the Angle of the North. This would involve motorising the two outstretched wings so that they could very slowly reposition themselves to a different angle of inclination on a continuous basis. The North of England has a strong engineering tradition, so the work would be relatively simple. Sponsoring an "Angle of the Day" would cover the cost of the modification, with "Today's Angle" becoming part of the weather forecast

In future, when folk on current affairs programmes say: "Let's hear the northern angle on that one" - the sound of groaning gears will be played accompanied by a picture of the slowly moving wings.
-- xenzag, Nov 12 2005

(?) Angel of the North http://www.gateshea...ure/Angel/Home.aspx
The sculpture [xenxag] is describing. [jurist, Nov 12 2005, last modified Sep 10 2006]

Dieter Appelt's photo "Tableau Oppedette" http://www.galerie-...0oppedette%2081.htm
Best image of it I can find so far [xenzag, Sep 09 2006, last modified Mar 13 2007]

Angel Of The North http://www.angelofthenorth.org.uk/
Info on Anthony Gormley's Angel [xenzag, Sep 09 2006]

Better still, melt the bloody monstrosity down.
-- angel, Nov 12 2005


does look pretty ridiculous doesn't it. like someone trying some kind of flying attempt.
-- po, Nov 12 2005


Not a fan [angel]. I'd have thought it might have had something to do with your name. You are from the general area aren't you?

Basically a pun. Not a particularly good one to be fair. How about if the wings were made flexible so it could dance to such timeless classics as the macarena and YMCA? I'm not sure whether or not this would actually make it any more pointless.
-- hidden truths, Nov 12 2005


Definitely not a fan. Do you realise that it's larger than a 747?
-- angel, Nov 12 2005


<Looks at photos in link> Geez, there must be some wind pressure on those wings.
-- Adze, Nov 12 2005


You would have got a bun from me if it could semaphore rude messages from northerners in the general direction of the south. As it is, it's just a sculpture with motors.
-- wagster, Nov 12 2005


I propose that this same thing be done, except without having the angel move. Hidden motors would growl and rumble below the ground, out of sight. They would not actually move the angel. Perhaps they could do some related, useful task, such as extruding licorice-like candy.
-- bungston, Nov 12 2005


There are plenty of generals in my area but it's not near Newcastle. For you Wagster it will do anything, and for you Bungston the licorice machine shall be bolted on. I actually quite like The Angel, although I have concerns about its originality - see Dieter Appelt's 1980 photo "Tableau Oppedette" - or am I the only one who is missing something here?
-- xenzag, Nov 13 2005


Thanks, [xenzag]. God I'm cheap.
-- wagster, Nov 13 2005


Do solar panels work in England?
-- Texticle, Nov 13 2005


Yes. They work in Scotland too. Quite good at keeping the rain off your head...
-- Jinbish, Nov 13 2005


sorry to churn this up again, just editing and added two links. The similarity to Appelt's piece still intrigues me, but this sort of thing happens constantly with ideas and images. They go in, and they come back out again latter.
-- xenzag, Sep 09 2006


That would make it an angel-grinder, Lieutenant?
-- pertinax, Sep 09 2006


//"artist's" "work"// - why did you put these words in inverted commas [Lt_ Frank] ? Angel-grinder is good [pertinax]
-- xenzag, Sep 09 2006


I wish I could use [phlish]'s "boring" vote on this. (sorry [xen])
-- phundug, Sep 10 2006


Lt_Frank - I hope I never have to live in a society where art works and artists have their values and merits measured against some chart showing hip replacement statistics.

When I look at art works, visit the theatre, go to some other type of public performance or listen to music, I just don't think as my means of appraisal: "I wonder how much that cost?" There are other values apart from monetary ones.

You also may not noticed that I too was questioning the value of the work, in a different way, by poking a little fun at its seriousness.

I'm surprised, at some of the attitudes here, that have been revealed over the Angel, but I won't continue with this thread as these are tired old arguments, and this is not why I am here. Bring on the reading snails instead!
-- xenzag, Sep 10 2006



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