Monkey's Blog - with a little help from Alice

Jupiter Artland

Another day trip! It was such good weather last Friday, Alice was even prepared to give up going to her cheap movie matinee, in order to visit this sculpture park she'd heard about.

I enjoyed riding on the top of the bus - a West Lothian number 27 this time, right up to the splendid gates of Jupiter Artland.

Alice took simply oodles of photos, which it's taken her ages to fiddle about with. She's such a perfectionist with her cropping and adjusting.  I wanted her to just get on with the ones I was in, but she insisted on staying up late two nights in a row to get them all "just right." The other ones you can view online elsewhere.

First we trudged through a rather dark coppice, with lumps of stone stuck in the trees. Alice said it was designed by one of her favourite Land Artists, but I thought it was all a bit silly. The foxgloves (real) were pretty, though. Nothing to do with foxes: probably the little folk.

The Duck Pond was more to my liking, gave some lovely reflections in the sun, and a view of the intriguing Boathouse. It turned out to have shelves full of bottles of water from a hundred different rivers in Great Britain! I'm not sure why that counts as Art, but Alice says it's another of these Conceptual doo-dahs. I admit they were quite jolly.

Looking across the pond from there, we caught a glimpse of the amazing Life Mounds. They were simply huge, really looked like land sculpted by a Giant! Anyone could walk and climb over them, though running or rolling was strongly discouraged. I had a good view, even from this smaller one.

Pricked out below the head of the "sperm" is THE FUTURE PREGNANT WITHIN THE PAST. Well, that's a truism, but  these artists don't like to leave you in any doubt about how to interpret things...

I loved the pattern of rings on this big stump, even though Alice said it wasn't an official piece of art. Why not? And why not if I choose to say it is? Deep questions.

I thought it was considerate of them to put up this wonderful climbing frame for the kiddies. Wrong again! It's another sculpture. By Antony Gormley - the one who did his own body Six Times all down the Water of Leith in Edinburgh.

Actually, if you look at the 3rd photo on Jupiter Artland's website here, you'll see it is a body, after all. It's called Firmament, supposedly because it was inspired by a map of the Heavens. If you can imagine the 1019 steel balls without the 1770 steel bars, it would resemble a Star Map. I'm trying, I'm trying hard. Hhmmmm...

Suddenly we came across this tragic figure, one of what proved to be five different Weeping Girls.

One looked so distraught I tried to offer her some comfort, but nought availed. Looking closer, I discovered she had NO FACE under her hair! None of them did.

Positively creepy. But oddly captivating.

My nerves were gently soothed by meditating beneath the quiet gaze of Sappho, the poet and Tenth Muse, sculpted by Ian Hamilton Finlay.


The installation we both admired most of all was this astonishing cobweb, 400cm in diameter (about 13 feet.) It was knitted with circular needles and four strands of multi-coloured fishing line. Wow! Certainly a true Work of Art. Called Over Here, it drew you to look though it, as well as at it.

Don't forget you can view all these photos at a larger size if click on them, and even better still, if you right click and open in a separate tab. And follow the green links to find out more.

What a super trip. I recommend you take a visit as well, if you can.