Mary Wollstonecraft memorial statue provokes mixed reaction

[editor]

You said you imagined most people in Sheffield are happy with the statue, which is more important than the opinion of some imagined art critic. I'm not sure what else you could have meant, other than popularity being the important thing here.

I've no idea how you can know the opinion of the majority of people in Sheffield about the quality of the sculpture mind (maybe belboid could give us a steer as a local though).

Has there been much local/national outrage like, say, there has been with this one? That should provide a pointer if people like it or not.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Has there been much local/national outrage like, say, there has been with this one? That should provide a pointer if people like it or not.

Not necessarily. Mediocre sculptures may just produce widspread indifference.

 

[scifisam]

Not necessarily. Mediocre sculptures may just produce widspread indifference.

This statue is mediocre too, though. It's a naked woman on a blob. The only interesting thing about it is the widespread dislike of it.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

This statue is mediocre too, though. It's a naked woman on a blob. The only interesting thing about it is the widespread dislike of it.

tbf I like the blob. (genuinely)

 

[Doodler]

The naked woman with her square-jawed face looks like some Nazi-era statue of a Teutonic fertility goddess.

Her



plus him



- (Klaus) Barbie and Ken.

 

[Aladdin]

This statue is mediocre too, though. It's a naked woman on a blob. The only interesting thing about it is the widespread dislike of it.

It actually looks like the blob would have been a lot more interesting on its own. Maybe the artist started with the blob and had an afterthought and stuck yer woman on top.
She looks like a female Oscar award.....for the best feminist.....
Fucks sake the teeny woman isn't even in proportion to thw blob underneath.

Give me the blob any day over the teeny Oscarette...in silver. Not even gold..so no first place for poor old feminism.
Second place ...again.
Yep.
Total shite.

 

[belboid]

You said you imagined most people in Sheffield are happy with the statue, which is more important than the opinion of some imagined art critic. I'm not sure what else you could have meant, other than popularity being the important thing here.

I've no idea how you can know the opinion of the majority of people in Sheffield about the quality of the sculpture mind (maybe belboid could give us a steer as a local though).

Do you think those still alive should be totally excluded from all aspects of the design process about any proposed statues designed to celebrate their work?

I'm not saying that they should get to choose the design, but I absolutely think they should at least be included in the dialogue.

I don’t recall there being any public consultation about this one, it was just a council commission, iirr. And everyone was delighted that there was going to be a statue, whatever it looked like, seeing as the women had been largely forgotten. People occasionally stop and look, but it’s almost just another piece of street furniture. Fine, but not ‘wow’

 

[editor]

I don’t recall there being any public consultation about this one, it was just a council commission, iirr. And everyone was delighted that there was going to be a statue, whatever it looked like, seeing as the women had been largely forgotten. People occasionally stop and look, but it’s almost just another piece of street furniture. Fine, but not ‘wow’

I'm rarely a fan of any of these kind of street sculptures to be honest.

 

[Cid]

I used the statue in sheffield as an example of one that definitely should not be nude. As it goes I’m not a huge fan of it, but I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with it aside from that the execution could be a bit better. From what I’ve observed when I’m in town, the odd person will stop to look at them... the statues themselves look over at the war memorial. Figurative statues have their place... they work for a quick information dump. It is somewhat striking to see women in industrial work clothes commemorated in a city centre. They do what they set out to do just fine.

 

[belboid]

In some ways it might be appropriate for them to be at least half naked. Dont know about the women, but when men worked in those jobs they were regularly almost naked as it was so fucking hot. I doubt that would have gone down well though.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I used the statue in sheffield as an example of one that definitely should not be nude. As it goes I’m not a huge fan of it, but I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with it aside from that the execution could be a bit better. From what I’ve observed when I’m in town, the odd person will stop to look at them... the statues themselves look over at the war memorial. Figurative statues have their place... they work for a quick information dump. It is somewhat striking to see women in industrial work clothes commemorated in a city centre. They do what they set out to do just fine.

That's fine. Most of that kind of statue leave me pretty cold, mind you. Shrug of the shoulders and walk on by.

Context and setting matter as well, of course. A sculpture in the centre of a park or square is very different from one in a street or busy concourse.

fwiw I don't think this sculpture (and it's a sculpture rather than a statue) particularly fulfils its brief, but it's probably a more interesting work of art because of that. Giving art a function rarely improves it as a piece of art.

 

[Cid]

In some ways it might be appropriate for them to be at least half naked. Dont know about the women, but when men worked in those jobs they were regularly almost naked as it was so fucking hot. I doubt that would have gone down well though.

Yeah, true enough. But general point being that it is a celebration of the people, and what they did, as opposed to lbj’s post. Which, as a reminder, said:

‘Clothed figures don't make for good statues. What is more interesting to explore? The contours of a living human body or the quality of a fabric?’

 

[Edie]

Although, if people are talking about Mary Wollstonecraft, that’s a good thing.

I didn’t know who she was until this thread, so it’s educated me and many others I’m sure.

 

[Edie]

I would popularity understood properly is one of the main metrics. Otherwise what have you got - formalism?

Can you explain what you mean more?

 

[ManchesterBeth]

I didn’t know who she was until this thread, so it’s educated me and many others I’m sure.

you've never read her daughters novel, Frankenstein?

Great novel, could never be me. Might twist yer head a bit.

 

[Serge Forward]

Frankenstein was written by her daughter.

 

[ManchesterBeth]

Frankenstein was written by her daughter.

See edit to post.

 

[belboid]

you've never read her daughters novel, Frankenstein?

Great novel, could never be me. Might twist yer head a bit.

It’s always good to refer to feminists by reference to someone they gave birth to.

 

[killer b]

Lol - she may have been a trailblazing icon of feminism, but let's stop for a moment to consider her most important contribution to the world: being a mother

 

[weepiper]

That looks like an Andy Scott too. I don’t know it though.

It is.

 

[Badgers]

 

[JimW]

I learned a lot about her experiences in France during the revolution as a result of this thread, will look to read some of her writing from that as it sounds great. Godwin comes out her life story pretty well too even if his memoir apparently did for her reputation - she didn't sound like that would bother her too much even though she did pretend to a marriage once for the sake of her daughter.

 

[Santino]

Can you explain what you mean more?

I suppose that I mean that art is only successful when it's enjoyed (for a fairly broad range of 'enjoying') by people. So the only vaguely objective measure by which we can judge a work of art is the extent to which it satisfies people. Very crudely speaking, the works of art that we tend to think of as 'great' are those that satisfy a lot of people, but we don't judge that solely by the total number of people it satisfies. We also think about how much they engage with it (is it only a passing fancy, or something that stays with you for a long time?), by how many different kinds of people across different age groups, social groups, cultures etc.

Normally we think of popularity as a single-dimension - just a number of people who like something. But we can think of popularity in different dimensons - the breadth of appeal, how well it dates, does it transcend cultural boundaries, and so on.

 

[ManchesterBeth]

It’s always good to refer to feminists by reference to someone they gave birth to.

I mean I'd be worried about literature classes if you're expecting schools to give people a bare bones feminist education. If your school isn't teaching you about one of the most important works of literary fiction then...

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I mean I'd be worried about literature classes if you're expecting schools to give people a bare bones feminist education. If your school isn't teaching you about one of the most important works of literary fiction then...

You're missing the point a bit there.

 

[ManchesterBeth]

You're missing the point a bit there.

definitely not. Unless you want to completely abolish parentage.

Something i am in complete favour of btw. But that's why Flora Tristan is my G.

 

[nogojones]

a few days too late for a slutty vampire costume, gutted

Plenty of time to sort your naughty elf costume out though

 

[killer b]

definitely not. Unless you want to completely abolish parentage.

Something i am in complete favour of btw. But that's why Flora Tristan is my G.

mate, it's ok to be wrong occasionally. no need to push on.

 

[ManchesterBeth]

mate, it's ok to be wrong occasionally. no need to push on.

I'm not wrong. If you haven't heard of one of the greatest works of your language and then researched her mother... then with what right do you call this land God's country?

 

[belboid]

I'm not wrong. If you haven't heard of one of the greatest works of your language and then researched her mother... then with what right do you call this land God's country?

What’s Shakespeare’s mother like, then?