# Damien Hirst's 'Verity' statue of naked pregnant teenager gets some Ilfracombe residents in a tizzy



## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

What do we think urban? A masterpiece? 



> IT'S been called every derogatory word you can think of outrageous, immoral, bizarre, offensive, distasteful, embarrassing, grotesque, disrespectful, insensitive, inappropriate, a monstrosity, tasteless, ugly, vulgar and not in good taste.
> But still the council has agreed to let this sculpture take pride of place on the idyllic British coastline at Ilfracombe.
> 
> Damien Hirst’s Verity statue is a pregnant teenager holding aloft a sword.
> ...


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## Santino (Oct 16, 2012)

Pretty good for an A Level project.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 16, 2012)

Wouldn't mind getting that weighed in


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

I quite like it, but don't get why one half of her body has been made to reveal her gizzards.


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## QueenOfGoths (Oct 16, 2012)

I like it, at least from the photo, and would be interested in seeing it in situ


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## killer b (Oct 16, 2012)

the head is degas' little dancer isn't it?


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

Here's the other side.


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 16, 2012)

Why is she holding a sword, in her left hand? And why Ilfracombe?

Edited to add: I like the side with the cutaways.


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

killer b said:


> the head is degas' little dancer isn't it?


I love that sculpture.


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## FridgeMagnet (Oct 16, 2012)

QueenOfGoths said:


> I like it, at least from the photo, and would be interested in seeing it in situ


Yes, it's hard to judge how well it actually suits the area. I don't have any intrinsic issue with it from that photo though.


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> And why Ilfracombe?


Tourism. The place only ever gets in the news when it's flooded.


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## Clair De Lune (Oct 16, 2012)

Wow, the first piece of art of his I have actually liked...and not just gone


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## fractionMan (Oct 16, 2012)

Haha.  He's a cad.

Having been to ilfracombe I can see why they take exception.  It's a fish & chips & penny aracade crumbling seaside town.  This thing doesn't, er, sit well with that.


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## fractionMan (Oct 16, 2012)

> They either love her. Or they hate her. ​*Some even think she will encourage teenage pregnancy.*​


​ ​​ 
TBF, they've only borrowed her, not forked out millions.  Not a bad borrow imo.


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## killer b (Oct 16, 2012)

killer b said:


> the head is degas' little dancer isn't it?


legs are the same too.


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## fractionMan (Oct 16, 2012)

killer b said:


> legs are the same too.


He's a lazy bastard.


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## peterkro (Oct 16, 2012)

Doesn't Hirst own a restaurant in Ilfracombe? I quite like it,he can take the credit for the conception of the work but I'm pretty sure other people made it.


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## King Biscuit Time (Oct 16, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> And why Ilfracombe?


 
Damian Hirst lives there (or nearby) - He has a restaurant down by the harbour - It's quite nice 

http://11thequay.co.uk/

Having grown up in the area I would say Ilfracombe should be glad of the boost to tourism. When I was a kid (in the 80s) it was a horrible place (Ilfra-gloom). The local line was that it was full of scousers, smack and dog shit.


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 16, 2012)

editor said:


> Tourism. The place only ever gets in the news when it's flooded.


Seaside tourists don't look at sculptures. Can you imagine it with a seagull on her head and guano running down her body? They will have to set someone to clean it out from the textured detail every morning.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 16, 2012)

Maybe he's a pro-lifer? 

Is there an abortion clinic anywhere near?


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## killer b (Oct 16, 2012)

fractionMan said:


> He's a lazy bastard.


it's clearly some sort of homage, which i don't necessarily have a problem with. it's a pretty enough sculpture i guess. can't say i like the guts side much though.


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> Seaside tourists don't look at sculptures.


Maybe not, but art can definitely help bring tourist traffic to down at heel seaside towns.


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## IC3D (Oct 16, 2012)

My long term plan is to utilise workfare training craftsman to create giant pieces of art across the country and this could be a good advert for the scheme and better than the 50 metre high bronze of George Galloway I envisioned for Bradford


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## fractionMan (Oct 16, 2012)

I think it's one of those things that's better in the flesh.  I'd actually make the trip to see it if I was in the area, so it's doing its job.


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## King Biscuit Time (Oct 16, 2012)

Seriously - this is now the best tourist attraction in the town. Relegating the collection slices of 100-year old wedding cake in Ilfracombe museum into a distant second place.


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## peterkro (Oct 16, 2012)

King Biscuit Time said:


> Having grown up in the area I would say Ilfracombe should be glad of the boost to tourism. When I was a kid (in the 80s) it was a horrible place (Ilfra-gloom). The local line was that it was full of scousers, smack and dog shit.


 
I've been there a few times but was a bit wary of using your description as I thought it might have changed.Maybe not.


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## fractionMan (Oct 16, 2012)

King Biscuit Time said:


> Seriously - this is now the best tourist attraction in the town. Relegating the collection slices of 100-year old wedding cake in Ilfracombe museum into a distant second place.


Combe martin will struggle to compete.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 16, 2012)

killer b said:


> the head is degas' little dancer isn't it?


 
Just found this



> At 20.25m from plinth to sword-tip, Verity is slightly taller than the Angel Of The North
> She weighs more than 25 tonnes
> Verity is described a modern-day allegory for truth and justice
> The figure's stance is taken from Edgar Degas' Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (c. 1881) referenced by Hirst in his earlier bronze Virgin Mother (2005)
> ...


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 16, 2012)

Thanks Minnie for that inset information. I had no idea it was as massive as it says. The Degas that 'inspired' it is not much bigger than a doll. The poor lad on Community Service that has to scrub off the guano each day in the summer would need a very long ladder. Perhaps one of those long-reach window cleaning brushes connected to a water supply would be safer.


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 16, 2012)

but then that's my usual reaction to modern art...


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 16, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> Thanks Minnie for that inset information. I had no idea it was as massive as it says. The Degas that 'inspired' it is not much bigger than a doll. The poor lad on Community Service that has to scrub off the guano each day in the summer would need a very long ladder. Perhaps one of those long-reach window cleaning brushes connected to a water supply would be safer.


 
Same as.  20 metres means nothing to me, but I know that slightly Bigger than the Angel of the North  is big


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 16, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> Thanks Minnie for that inset information. I had no idea it was as massive as it says. The Degas that 'inspired' it is not much bigger than a doll. The poor lad on Community Service that has to scrub off the guano each day in the summer would need a very long ladder. Perhaps one of those long-reach window cleaning brushes connected to a water supply would be safer.


 
Pressure washer


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## Firky (Oct 16, 2012)

I really like it.


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## el-ahrairah (Oct 16, 2012)

it's alright actually.  i normally hate damien hurst but it's not a bad piece.


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## Firky (Oct 16, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> Seaside tourists don't look at sculptures. Can you imagine it with a seagull on her head and guano running down her body? They will have to set someone to clean it out from the textured detail every morning.


 
Yeah they do:

Antony Gormley's, Another Place is hugely popular with photographers, tourists and alike.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 16, 2012)

firky said:


> Yeah they do:
> 
> Antony Gormley's, Another Place is hugely popular with photographers, tourists and alike.


 
I really do like those.  Not so sure about this Verity though


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## Belushi (Oct 16, 2012)

thats actually by far the most interesting piece i've seen from hirst.


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## Firky (Oct 16, 2012)

Belushi said:


> thats actually by far the most interesting piece i've seen from hirst.


 
As a person I think the guy is a nobber but as an artist I like him, for reasons seen on this thread. He has an extraordinary knack of pulling very strong reactions out of people. His butterfly work is probably my favourite.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Oct 16, 2012)

It's on the news now


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## RoyReed (Oct 16, 2012)

It remind me of the awful statues at Trago Mills in Cornwall.


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## fractionMan (Oct 16, 2012)

Those are brilliant ^^

He's got statues of all the local councillors looking like idiots iirc.


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## Firky (Oct 16, 2012)

RoyReed said:


> It remind me of the awful statues at Trago Mills in Cornwall.


 
There's a bloke spying on their nakedly female form from the hedge. Filthy bastard.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 16, 2012)

firky said:


> There's a bloke spying on their nakedly female form from the hedge. Filthy bastard.


 

while sieg heiling


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## maldwyn (Oct 16, 2012)

Hideous and unoriginal, if i lived there I'd move 

In the same category as this


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## RoyReed (Oct 16, 2012)

firky said:


> There's a bloke spying on their nakedly female form from the hedge. Filthy bastard.


That's Cnut!


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## lizzieloo (Oct 16, 2012)

editor said:


> Here's the other side.


 
I like it now I've seen that side


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## Manter (Oct 16, 2012)

firky said:


> Yeah they do:
> 
> Antony Gormley's, Another Place is hugely popular with photographers, tourists and alike.


I love those....


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## scifisam (Oct 16, 2012)

firky said:


> Yeah they do:
> 
> Antony Gormley's, Another Place is hugely popular with photographers, tourists and alike.


 
I'm going up to see them at half term. I mean, I wouldn't go all the way to Merseyside especially for them, but we are making a special trip to Crosby Beach.


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## ChrisD (Oct 16, 2012)

I'm tempted to go and have a look this weekend. Nice bike ride from Barnstaple (assuming I can get bike on train).


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## ChrisD (Oct 16, 2012)

Standing at 20.25 metres in height and weighing over 25 tonnes, ‘Verity’ is a modern-day allegory for truth and justice. The figure’s stance is taken from Edgar Degas’s ‘Little Dancer of Fourteen Years’ (c. 1881) referenced by Hirst in his earlier bronze ‘Virgin Mother’ (2005). An anatomical cross-section of her head and body reveals the developing foetus in her stomach. The title is from the Italian word for truth, whilst she holds the traditional symbols denoting Justice – a sword and scales – the scales are hidden and off balance behind her back whilst the sword is held confidently in her upstretched arm. Without the perfect equilibrium enacted by the scales, the sword becomes a dangerous instrument of power, rather than justice.
http://www.damienhirst.com/news/october/verity


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## Manter (Oct 16, 2012)

killer b said:


> it's clearly some sort of homage, which i don't necessarily have a problem with. it's a pretty enough sculpture i guess. can't say i like the guts side much though.


Looks like a homage to soviet realism to me but that isn't mentioned in his blurb. Still, at least it's interesting....


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## ChrisD (Oct 16, 2012)

I find it interesting to read the planning applications for these things...  here you can read all about it  (and comments from public etc.)
http://planning.northdevon.gov.uk/detail.asp?AltRef=54294&ApplicationNumber=54294&AddressPrefix=&Postcode=&CaseOfficer=&ParishName=&AreaTeam=&WardMember=&DateReceivedStart=&DateReceivedEnd=&DateDecidedStart=&DateDecidedEnd=&Locality=&AgentName=&ApplicantName=&ShowDecided=&DecisionLevel=&Sort1=FullAddressPrefix&Sort2=DateReceived+DESC&Submit=Search

Application form says existing use of land =  rock outcrop !

Heritage statement discusses maintainance:
"Weathering:



A certain amount of maintenance will be required on the patination of the sculpture

to maintain the colour. Due to the high salt content in the atmosphere, over time, a

colour change may occur to the bronze. It is proposed there is an annual clean with

high pressure water."

In that dramatic location a 20m sculpture isn't that big:


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## Onket (Oct 16, 2012)

editor said:


> I love that sculpture.


 
Nonce!


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

Onket said:


> Nonce!


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## editor (Oct 16, 2012)

ChrisD said:


> In that dramatic location a 20m sculpture isn't that big:
> 
> View attachment 24077


Looks great there.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 16, 2012)

RoyReed said:


> That's Cnut!


 
Alright, then he's a filthy cnut!


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## ChrisD (Oct 16, 2012)

editor said:


> Looks great there.


 .. that's a photoshop from the planning application.... I may be able to take some actual pics at the weekend.

according to twitter she's being hoisted up now (4.45 pm)  no live feed that I can find....


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## Stanley Edwards (Oct 16, 2012)

I still find it very difficult to appreciate Damien Hirst as an artist. Ideas, entrepreneur, showman - yes, but I don't feel any art.


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## toggle (Oct 16, 2012)

fractionMan said:


> Those are brilliant ^^
> 
> He's got statues of all the local councillors looking like idiots iirc.


 
he's a fucking UKIP funding twunt though. half the adverts he runs in the local papers are full of anti europe ranting


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## Stanley Edwards (Oct 16, 2012)

Anyone else wondering if the fact that it is taller than Gormley's Angel of the North is an egotistical stab? Why did it need mentioning?


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## IC3D (Oct 16, 2012)

editor said:


> Looks great there.


I think it should be on top of the cliff it looks like its apologetically been relocate to the car park!


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## IC3D (Oct 16, 2012)

Stanley Edwards said:


> Anyone else wondering if the fact that it is taller than Gormley's Angel of the North is an egotistical stab? Why did it need mentioning?


Damien is a size queen?


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## sleaterkinney (Oct 16, 2012)

He's taken to ripping off himself.

http://www.damienhirst.com/the-virgin-mother

I like it but I don't get the reference to justice, I think Hirst lost it a while ago.


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## killer b (Oct 16, 2012)

he often revisits themes, as have many other artists. nothing wrong with that.


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## dweller (Oct 17, 2012)

it looks ghastly, not my cup of tea at all


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## ChrisD (Oct 18, 2012)

She's becoming a Radio 4 media whore...
Thought for the day (18th October) 7.45am
Front Row (17th October) 7.30pm - in which the BBC sent a reporter from London to Ilfracombe who then came back before the statue had been erected and waffled on about what it might look like if he hadn't had a train to catch


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## yardbird (Oct 18, 2012)

Does Hirst acknowledge which of his assistants actually produced the artwork while he "oversees" ?

No.


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## killer b (Oct 18, 2012)

Tbf, any statue on this scale isn't going to be hand cast by the artist. Don't imagine gormley had too much involvement with the actual making of angel of the north either.


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## King Biscuit Time (Oct 18, 2012)

toggle said:


> he's a fucking UKIP funding twunt though. half the adverts he runs in the local papers are full of anti europe ranting


 
Reading 'Tripehounds' mental frothy-mouthed rants in his Trago Mills ads in The North Devon Journal was the highlight of Thursday morning coffee break at college. Absolutely barking (and racist and homophobic to boot).


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## PursuedByBears (Oct 18, 2012)

I really like it, spotted the Degas similarity but thought it was accidental.


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## Edie (Oct 18, 2012)

Oh I love it! I think it's so beautiful and strong. 

I love her smooth belly and breasts and thighs, and the anatomical strip back. I like how she holds the sword and the power. And I like how fucking big she is 

And I'm someone who knows fuck all about art and rarely has any reaction to it.


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## maldwyn (Oct 18, 2012)

When you can't be arsed, call in the  'fabricators' 

Call me cynical, but isn't it just one big scam to promote his restaurant.


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## killer b (Oct 18, 2012)

Edie said:


> And I'm someone who knows fuck all about art and rarely has any reaction to it.


 
fwiw, hirst is often very good at this bit - i think he's very accessible.


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## Gromit (Oct 18, 2012)

I like the way she triumphantly holds aloft her council house approval decision letter. 

Oh wait it's a sword. 

Teenager gang violence is getting bad but are they really carrying swords now? A Stanley knife Or a flick knife would have made more sense.


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## Stanley Edwards (Oct 18, 2012)

killer b said:


> fwiw, hirst is often very good at this bit - i think he's very accessible.


 
That is interesting. As the comparison with Gormley has already been made, do you think Damien Hirst is more accessible than Gormley? Hirst seems to promote himself as more of a 'peoples artist' these days. I still find his work somehow artless. I appreciate the aesthetics, graphics, science, concepts, statements etc, but next to Gormley it just looks soulless and too manufactured.


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## killer b (Oct 18, 2012)

i don't hold an opinion either way tbh stan. i think their approach is very different, and difficult to compare. i prefer gormley, but i don't think that necessarily means anything.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 18, 2012)

editor said:


> What do we think urban? A masterpiece?


Joan of Trailer-Parc.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Oct 18, 2012)

Just read how big it is. Jesus motherfucking christ!


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## Stanley Edwards (Oct 18, 2012)

Johnny Canuck3 said:


> Just read how big it is. Jesus motherfucking christ!


 
It gives a louder 'fuck you' factor. Bigger is better. You North americans taught us that.


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## killer b (Oct 18, 2012)

half of the height is the sword tbf.


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## Stanley Edwards (Oct 18, 2012)

Yeah. It is cheating really. Like adding bits to the Chrysler building after completion.

I'd like to see this in the flesh. Can't recall ever visiting Ilfracombe. It does have 'anarchy appeal', and the Angel of the North v Angel of the South comparisons are inevitable.

Personally, I'm not sure a sculpture of this scale could work as the artist intended without a great deal of empathy for the environment in which it is intended to stand. A sculpture like this placed 'on loan' in a small seaside town is always going to have an awakwardness I couldn't ignore. Perhaps that is a point, or comment Hirst wanted to make. Proper anarchy. I somehow doubt it. Where will it reside next? Will the impact on the location be just as important?

As massed produced minatures they would probably sell like hot cakes.


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## ChrisD (Oct 19, 2012)

She's standing on some books...(gains a few more cms). What book titles would be appropriate?


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## ChrisD (Oct 25, 2012)

I still haven't been over to visit but this film shows the setting & comparative size of the statue....

(Edit: whoops... couldn't link to the vimeo video ex ITV news)


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## Stanley Edwards (Oct 26, 2012)

This was pretty much the entire front page of Madrid edition of 20 Minutes today. Have to say his guys know how to spread their news. Will Ilfracombe benefit?

Pretty much presented as the same story - locals upset etc.


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## Firky (Oct 27, 2012)

It's brilliant but I don't think a dead seaside British resort is suddenly going to be a bohemian mecca.


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## twentythreedom (Oct 27, 2012)

Totnes!


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## Hocus Eye. (Oct 28, 2012)

firky said:


> It's brilliant but I don't think a dead seaside British resort is suddenly going to be a bohemian mecca.


St Ives managed to do that many years ago.

And twentythreedom, Totnes is inland albeit at the highest navigable point on the River Dart.


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## not-bono-ever (Nov 2, 2012)

hirst has done the cut away body thing before


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## ChrisD (Apr 22, 2013)

taken me 6 months to get around to visiting... I was impressed.  It helps create a sense of place for the car park at Harbour entrance. Scale seems about right and the pose is appropriate for location.  Not bothered about the dissection side which is hidden from main views.

Differential weathering makes it look like she's  been wading through blue mud and the gulls are crapping on her feet:



Would have had a cup of tea and slice of cake in Damien's cafe but no choice of tea/cake so went elsewhere after using his loos and admiring the (expensive) art work in corridor.  Ilfracombe is still depressing and in need of regeneration.


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## Firky (Apr 22, 2013)

That is brilliant. 

Do you have any other photos?


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## prunus (Apr 22, 2013)

ChrisD said:


> View attachment 31730


 
It looks absolutely great in situ.  Really powerful.  I'd be super-proud to have that in the town I lived in.  The complainers should just take the lemons out of their arses and stick 'em in their mouths to shut themselves up.


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## ChrisD (Apr 22, 2013)

Firky said:


> That is brilliant.
> 
> Do you have any other photos?


 
since you asked.... here's the view from St Nicholas (sea is to the LHS, harbour to the RHS) so she's there to greet any boats heading for harbour....



View of her backside is what you get from walking not along the coastal bit.....  the scales she's holding aren't that obvious.




and for the record if you're coming along the road from Coombe Martin this is the gateway view as you approach Ilfracombe:


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

Firky said:


> It's brilliant but I don't think a dead seaside British resort is suddenly going to be a bohemian mecca.


 
Nor does anyone who lives there want it to be IME. Generally folk in Ilfracombe would rather that Damien Hirst and his filthy rich ilk take their gentrificatory ambitions and get the fuck on. This is because they'd like to continue to be able to afford to live there, and also because Damien Hirst is a cunt.

But yeah, fuck the complainers. No reason local people should get a say in what happens to their town when some fucker needs to use it to get his name in the papers for the first time since he did that one thing he did ages ago that wasn't really that good.


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

ChrisD said:


> and for the record if you're coming along the road from Coombe Martin this is the gateway view as you approach Ilfracombe:
> 
> View attachment 31746


 
No it's not, that's just a building at the end of the high street. What you actually see coming in on that road is some lovely old victorian houses and views of the harbour and surrounding hills. Not quite sure why you felt the need to post this picture or the completely inaccurate description of it tbh.


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## Firky (Apr 22, 2013)

The Angel of the North didn't suddenly bump up house prices, Frank


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

editor said:


> Tourism. The place only ever gets in the news when it's flooded.


 
It's built on a steep hillside facing the sea. It couldn't be flooded even if it wanted to.


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

Firky said:


> The Angel of the North didn't suddenly bump up house prices, Frank


 
Hirst also has a fancy restaurant in the town already, one few locals could afford to eat in, and IIRC has designs of doing to the place what Rick Stein did to Padstow, ie filling it up with rich cunts from the south east and driving all the locals out.


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## toggle (Apr 22, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> Nor does anyone who lives there want it to be IME. Generally folk in Ilfracombe would rather that Damien Hirst and his filthy rich ilk take their gentrificatory ambitions and get the fuck on. This is because they'd like to continue to be able to afford to live there, and also because Damien Hirst is a cunt.
> 
> But yeah, fuck the complainers. No reason local people should get a say in what happens to their town when some fucker needs to use it to get his name in the papers for the first time since he did that one thing he did ages ago that wasn't really that good.


 
snorts. they saw what happened to padstow.


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## Firky (Apr 22, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> Hirst also has a fancy restaurant in the town already, one few locals could afford to eat in, and IIRC has designs of doing to the place what Rick Stein did to Padstow, ie filling it up with rich cunts from the south east and driving all the locals out.


 
Welcome to rural Britain, full of rich cunts pushing out the locals.

The woman who lives nextdoor to my parents is a petrochemicals doctor down in London and hse's only there about six weeks of the year. No council tax, just an empty house.


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## toggle (Apr 22, 2013)

Firky said:


> Welcome to Rural Britain, full of rich cunts.


 
welcome to the south west.

too nice to let the locals live there.


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## Firky (Apr 22, 2013)

You could always open up an artisan breadshop.


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## Treacle Toes (Apr 22, 2013)

I like it, alot. The cut away and exposed muscles etc section maybe inspired by the body works-pregnant lady, by Prof whats-his-face.


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## editor (Apr 22, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> It's built on a steep hillside facing the sea. It couldn't be flooded even if it wanted to.


It's managed to flood in the past though.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/day-Gr...tory-11728607-detail/story.html#axzz2RDhN97wn


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## Firky (Apr 22, 2013)

Rutita1 said:


> I like it, alot. The cut away and exposed muscles etc section maybe inspired by the body works-pregnant lady, by Prof whats-his-face.


 
Prof Boffin?


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

editor said:


> It's managed to flood in the past though.
> http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/day-Gr...tory-11728607-detail/story.html#axzz2RDhN97wn


 
A storm is not a flood. Have you ever been outside?


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## editor (Apr 22, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> A storm is not a flood. Have you ever been outside?


I didn't realise it was Dull Pedant Day.


> "The high tide, *big river*, and westerly wind combined to produce at Lynmouth a *flood* quite unprecedented in the memory of any living person.
> 
> "When it was high water, the tide rushed up the harbour, absolutely filling it, and overflowing into the main street. A boat could easily have floated up the street for the whole distance.
> 
> ...


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## Corax (Apr 22, 2013)

I think that's a brilliant piece.  A proper 2-fingers up to the 'modern art is all rubbish' brigade.


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## JimW (Apr 22, 2013)

I used to know some people who worked in that Pangolin Foundry when I lived in Stroud. Don't like this sculpture, trite is the word springs to mind. Don't think Hirst has anything to say to anyone.


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

editor said:


> I didn't realise it was Dull Pedant Day.


 
It's always dull pedant day around here


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## Treacle Toes (Apr 22, 2013)

Firky said:


> Prof Boffin?


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

Seriously though, the general tone of this thread bothers me. The general consensus seems to be one of 'it's a shit town so anything marginally interesting has got to be an improvement and the locals have no right to complain', despite the fact that many people on this thread don't seem to know much about the place.

I've lived in Ilfracombe before and I still have family there. I'm not gonna say it's a thriving metropolis or anything, because it's not. It's a decaying victorian resort town with all the problems you'd expect to find in such a place and a few more novel ones besides, but it's still somewhere that thousands of people call home. It's also one of a very few places on the entire south west coastline where working class folk can still afford to live.

Nobody seems to have asked the people of Ilfracombe if they want to be the scene for Hirst's latest stunt, which whatever you think of it is clearly designed to provoke a strong reaction from people. The locals certainly weren't asked if they want to be the victims of Hirst's attempt at a gentrification vanity project, of which this sculpture is just the latest part. Writing any objections off as people getting 'in a tizzy' doesn't seem very respectful.

And it may be just standing in a car park, but it's not just any old car park, it's the car park at the centre of this absurdly pretty scene:






I don't know of many towns in this country that sit in such beautiful surroundings. I don't agree that people's objections to something that makes a huge impact on those surroundings are petty or trivial. After decades of economic decline, the scenery is about all that makes the town worth living in. It's not surprising if folk are protective of it and don't just want to let any old cunt with a wodge of money do what they want with it.


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## ChrisD (Apr 22, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> No it's not, that's just a building at the end of the high street. What you actually see coming in on that road is some lovely old victorian houses and views of the harbour and surrounding hills. Not quite sure why you felt the need to post this picture or the completely inaccurate description of it tbh.


Sorry - didn't mean to offend or mislead...  but that part of town whilst having some lovely old buildings is looking neglected and sad.  I agree about Padstow - I like places somewhere between the derelict and the gentrified.


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## fractionMan (Apr 22, 2013)

I've been to ilfracombe several times - my mum used to live in combe martin round the corner. The scenery is fantastic, a faded gem of a place. If it ends up like padstow then it'll be a real shame.


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

The best thing for Ilfracombe would be ferry trips across to South Wales IMO. The pier's already sat there hardly being used and if there were boat trips to somewhere like Porthcawl (which IIRC is a similar sort of place to Ilfracombe) it would be a massive boost for both towns I reckon. I know it always pissed me off that you could practically skip a stone to Wales from my house but to drive there you'd have to go 250 miles or something ridiculous like that.


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## Fez909 (Apr 22, 2013)

I really like it, but also agree that it shouldn't be forced on a community in an effort to start gentrification. If the town is already pretty, it doesn't need it. Why not put it in Hull, Blackpool or wherever else, where the residents would welcome it, and the economy would benefit from the tourism without pushing up house prices to force WC people out.

Also, these other places still get modern art, but it's proper shit. Here's Middlesbrough's latest piece of public art:






If you're struggling to see it, it's those two large rings connected by some netting of some sort, known locally (if anyone even bothers to talk about it) as the Femidom.

It's down by the old docks which is a wasteland, really. I reckon that Hirst sculpture would have looked amazing there, and it's more conventional style of artwork would have had a warmer reception than this.

Why put art where it's not wanted? I don't get it.


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## SpookyFrank (Apr 22, 2013)

This reminds me off the fuss people made about Ilfracombe's Landmark Theatre when they first built it.






...it's those two big white cones in the middle btw. The place doesn't seem to fit in that well with the very traditional-looking victorian town, and lots of people hated it.

Now of course it's part of the town and everyone loves it. It's also part of the landscape, you can see how the coast path runs right across the top of it and the big rear wall follows the line of the sea wall and the cliffs. More importantly, it was built _for_ the town and serves a real purpose. And it's a work of art in its own right. More of this sort of thing please, less vanity projects.






The interior is lovely too by the way.


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## ChrisD (Apr 23, 2013)

SpookyFrank said:


> This reminds me off the fuss people made about Ilfracombe's Landmark Theatre when they first built it............
> 
> 
> .


 
It did get Architectural awards at the time (but so too have lots of dubious projects). I visited that too and was disappointed that the white

towers are getting discoloured.

However it's the only SW date on Karine Polwart's tour this year so they must be doing something right!


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## sim667 (Apr 23, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> If the town is already pretty, it doesn't need it. Why not put it in Hull, Blackpool


 
Because they're both beautiful towns already 

Lest be honest though, any moaners about this are just types that dont like change. In 2 or 3 years it wont even be a problem.


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## Fez909 (Apr 23, 2013)

sim667 said:


> Because they're both beautiful towns already
> 
> Lest be honest though, any moaners about this are just types that dont like change. In 2 or 3 years it wont even be a problem.


 
I'll give you Hull: I was reading a thread on here recently (may have been an old thread) where someone posted a load of pictures in defence of Hull being grim or something. It looked well nice, and had far more interesting architecture than I would have guessed.

Blackpool's pretty grim though (even though I still love the place).

------------------

That theatre looks to be a terrible fit for the area its in, but I supposed you can't be stuck in the past forever. Is the locals liking it just an example of the mere-exposure effect? It could be, and the same might happen to the Hirst statue.


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## sim667 (Apr 23, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> I'll give you Hull: I was reading a thread on here recently (may have been an old thread) where someone posted a load of pictures in defence of Hull being grim or something. It looked well nice, and had far more interesting architecture than I would have guessed.
> 
> Blackpool's pretty grim though (even though I still love the place).
> 
> ...



In all fairness last time I went there had been a huge amount of investment into the center and the marina, some of the old estates etc leave something to be desired

There's a lot of history in hull and they've been good at keeping their historical elements throughout the modernisation


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## ChrisD (Dec 9, 2013)

Bumped 'cos news of Hirst's plan for 750 new houses....
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25302686

"...But resident David Watts said while he believed Hirst's intentions were good, his vision was a "pipe dream" which would "wipe out" much of the local wildlife."We're a seaside resort, our transport's not wonderful and there aren't a lot of jobs about, so who's going to buy all these houses?" he asked."I've nothing against the artist, he's got a lot of money, but in my opinion he'd be better off using it for an all-weather attraction."At the moment people can stand in the rain and watch Verity get wet, and that's it."


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## Snapography (Jun 7, 2015)

QueenOfGoths said:


> I like it, at least from the photo, and would be interested in seeing it in situ



Save you a trip


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