Arts / New home earmarked for sculpture
A PAIR of small sculptures in Lerwick which were coned off over safety worries could find a new home along the street.
The Storm Cargo installation, created by Glasgow sculptor Joseph Ingleby for Shetland Arts and Living Lerwick’s LOCUS public art trail, is in line to move next to the old Tolbooth building.
It is one of a number of sculptures created for the trail, which launched in the summer, but eyebrows were raised late last year when traffic cones were placed around the artwork outside the RBS bank.
A meeting of Lerwick Community Council heard in December that the low-lying, stainless steel sculptures had been involved in accidents with a vehicle and a pedestrian.
Efforts were made to look into a new home for Storm Cargo, and now a planning application has been submitted for its possible relocation.
The hope is to place it to the right of the Tolbooth’s steps, behind a road sign.
The historic B-listed building, located at the junction between Commercial Street and Church Road, is currently used by the RNLI.
The leaflet for the LOCUS art trail says Storm Cargo “consists of two halves, inspired by the shape of a guillemot’s egg”.
“The outer surfaces of the work depict tides, waves, coast and landscape, along with traditional sixareen Shetland boat construction,” it continues.
“The egg is sliced open to reveal a cargo of elements that make up Shetland: a Scatness wheelhouse and a hearth stone from Jarlshof, Edmonston’s Chickweed from Unst and Fort Charlotte, compass navigation and marine engineering, all as deep cut symbol reliefs.
“The two oldest ones are cut deepest, the next two less so, and the most recent with the lightest ‘footprint’. The inner plates also angle and wedge, creating a dynamic surface reflecting the stone construction and landscape of Scatness and Jarlshof.”
The LOCUS art trail was funded by Shetland Islands Council though the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Fund.
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