Another Place (sculpture)

Another Place is a piece of modern sculpture by Sir Antony Gormley. It consists of 100 cast iron figures facing towards the sea. The figures are modelled on the artist's own naked body.

After being exhibited at several locations across Europe, it was permanently installed at Crosby Beach in Liverpool City Region in England. The work proved controversial due to safety concerns, the suggestion of environmental damage from tourism and the "offensive" nature of the naked statues. At a meeting on 7 March 2007, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council decided that the sculptures will remain on Crosby Beach permanently.

The work consists of cast iron figures which face out to sea, spread over a 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of the beach between Waterloo and Blundellsands. Each figure is 189 cm tall (nearly 6 feet 2½ inches) and weighs around 650 kg (over 1400 lb). In common with most of Gormley's work, the figures are cast replicas of his own body. As the tides ebb and flow, the figures are, respectively, revealed and submerged by the sea.

The figures were cast at two foundries: Hargreaves Foundry in Halifax, West Yorkshire and the Joseph and Jesse Siddons Foundry in West Bromwich by foundryman Derek Alexander.

Another Place was first exhibited on the beach of Cuxhaven, Germany, in 1997 followed by Stavanger in Norway and De Panne in Belgium.

Another Place was the subject of controversy in Merseyside, though many people consider the figures to be beautiful pieces of art which have generated increased revenue from tourism in the local area.

Originally, the statues were due to be relocated in November 2007. Those who use the beach for watersports were among the most vocal in their resistance to the figures remaining, citing safety concerns. The coastguard also expressed safety concerns, fearing that tourists could become stuck in soft sand and get cut off by the tide. Conservationists, meanwhile, complained that bird-feeding areas had been compromised by the increased tourist traffic. Art lovers and local businesses, on the other hand, lobbied for the statues to stay. Gormley himself supported the proposal to keep the statues at Crosby Beach, saying the location was "ideal".

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Wikipedia