Fwd: Antony Gormley’s tribute to Alan Turing meets resistance in Cambridge

Friday May 01 2020

Antony Gormley’s tribute to Alan Turing meets resistance in Cambridge
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King’s College, Cambridge, is the intended setting for the 3.6m steel 
memorial to its alumnus, Alan Turing

David Sanderson, Arts Correspondent

Sir Antony Gormley’s sculpture in commemoration of Alan Turing will be a 
great work of culture, say the artists. According to heritage officials, 
though, it is a blot on the horizon.

An application to construct Gormley’s 3.6m ( 12ft ) “steel slab” 
sculpture at King’s College Cambridge has run into opposition from the 
heritage watchdog, which said it would cause architectural, landscape 
and aesthetic harm to “so remarkable a place”.

The three-tonne work, composed of 19 steel slabs that will weather over 
time was, Gormley said, an effort to “see if it’s possible to make a 
monumental work that is nevertheless about human vulnerability and the 
vulnerability of genius”.

The sculpture in memory of Turing, who read mathematics at the college 
from 1931 to 1934 and whose ....




https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/antony-gormleys-tribute-to-alan-turing-meets-resistance-in-cambridge-9pvv8m5n8

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F6ff4285c-8b22-11ea-8f57-abf3d436b9f5.jpg?crop=1600%2C900%2C0%2C0&resize=1180

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Friday May 01 2020

'Intrusive addition' :
Antony Gormley’s memorial to mathematician Alan Turing draws fire
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Some critics endorse the proposed sculpture for Cambridge University 
while others question the competition process

Gareth Harris

-  Left : Alan Turing in 1930. Right : Antony Gormley's proposed
    sculpture to commemorate Turing

Antony Gormley’s proposal for a sculpture commemorating the Second World 
War code-breaker Alan Turing has run into trouble after the heritage 
body Historic England criticised the 12-feet high memorial piece planned 
for the University of Cambridge. The abstract metal figure made of 19 
steel slabs would “harm” King’s College, where Turing read mathematics 
in the 1930s, says Historic England. But other cultural figures, 
including the directors of both Tate Modern and Tate Britain, back 
Gormley’s vision.

The sculpture of Turing — a brilliant mathematician who deciphered 
military codes used by Germany in the war — would be located in the 
south-east corner of the Great Lawn court near to the Wilkins building. 
“The pose of the Turing sculpture is inspired by the work and life of 
Alan Turing himself,” says Adam Gardner, the deputy clerk of works at 
King’s College, in a letter posted online as part of the planning 
application.

-  Kings College, University of Cambridge

Gardner adds : “The proposed Turing sculpture is a continuation of 
Antony Gormley’s Slabworks series. It will be 3.668m high and will weigh 
3,123kg. It is made from Corten weathering steel slabs assembled from 
separate elements : 19 gas-cut blocks, 140mm thick. Its architectural 
language is that of stacking, propping and cantilever, and the 
provisional relationship of balance between the blocks should be able to 
be felt as well as seen.”

But Clare Campbell, the development advice team leader at "Historic 
England", says in correspondence to the city council that “the 
introduction of the sculpture would affect the architectural, landscape 
and aesthetic significance of the college. We consider that it would 
harm the particular character, created by the interplay of buildings and 
landscape, which makes the college so remarkable a place.”

The art critic Waldemar Januszczak also opposes the design. "I have a 
lot of time for Gormley, and his pieces can work well in urban or 
natural settings where they set their own mood. But here, the mood is 
already set. And it’s a beautiful mood. The Turing sculpture is almost 
certain to look like an intrusive addition. Especially against the 
ecclesiastical backdrop of King’s College Chapel." He adds : "If there’s 
one thing contemporary art has proved over and over again it’s that the 
mix of gothic and contemporary doesn’t work. They ruined the interior of 
Salisbury Cathedral with the misplaced William Pye font. This could do 
the same."

Meanwhile Louisa Buck, the contemporary art correspondent at "The Art 
Newspaper", says she “would have liked to see a competition and more 
discussion around how to commemorate Alan Turing”. Cambridge University 
had not responded at the time of writing about whether there was a 
selection process.

-  The orange figure shows the proposed location
    for Gormley's Turing sculpture

Numerous letters of support included in the application endorse 
Gormley’s Turing sculpture however. Alex Farquharson, the director of 
Tate Britain, writes in a redacted letter dated 7 October 2019 that he 
considers “this work to be a highly fitting tribute from one of our 
leading artists to one of our greatest mathematicians”.

Frances Morris, the Tate Modern's director, says in another redacted 
letter that she feels confident “the sculpture will sit happily in 
dialogue with the different architectural expressions within the estate 
of buildings from the magnificent chapel to the miscellany of 
accommodation blocks”. Meanwhile, Tim Marlow, former artistic director 
of the "Royal Academy of Arts", writes that Gormley is a “prescient 
choice” ( the RA held a major show of Gormley’s works last year ).

Cambridge city council has not yet reached a decision on the planning 
application.



https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/antony-gormley-s-steel-slab-sculpture-honouring-alan-turing-draws-fire

https://images.graph.cool/v1/cj6c28vh912680101ozc2paxj/ck9o3vnvoalwa0133tzyawymk/0x0:1300x838/960x960/turin.jpg

https://images.graph.cool/v1/cj6c28vh912680101ozc2paxj/ck9o45uzbalwu0133wpvl8xno/0x0:2300x1448/960x960/screenshot_2020_05_01_at_121133_copy.jpg

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