PalenQ

..... and, all told, 60,000,000 people will pass annually by this monumental new work of art that will be clearly visible to folks riding the Chunnel Train to London as well as local trains and motorists from a motorway.

The site, in Ebbsfleet, currently dull and offering little to make one linger, was indeed chosen because so many folks will pass by it en route to London - with the 2012 Olympic Games playing a factor.

Esteemed artist Mark Wallinger won the contest with what he says is a symbol of Kent (Ebbsfleet in on the edge of Kent) - a prancing horse - but one that is 33 times life size - a dazzling white horse. (Wallinger won a Turner Prize - a dubious credential that may upset some folks). The statue has been called the Stallion of the South i guess.

So by 2012 what could turn out to be one of Europe's enduring statues and symbols should be finished in time to greet Olympic travelers heading to London via Ebbsfleet.

The statue has been compared to "The Angel of the North" statue as a piece of 'public jolity'

Now i'll have to Google Angel of the North and track that down - i'm thinking it could be in Newcastle?

Wallinger's Ebbsfleet horse is a great piece of public art - 3 hours ago
Mark Wallinger with his winning design for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Mark Wallinger's giant statue of a white horse has ...
guardian.co.uk

Jonathan Jones: Wallinger's Ebbsfleet horse is a great piece of ...
Feb 10, 2009 ... Jonathan Jones: Mark Wallinger's winning commission for the Ebbsfleet Landmark is undoubtedly populist, but it's still art.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...allinger-horse -

Mark Wallinger's horse wins the Ebbsfleet Landmark commission ...
Feb 10, 2009 ... The Turner prize-winner's horse set to dominate the Kent landscape as it beats Richard Deacon and Daniel Buren to the commission for the ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...allinger-horse

More results from www.guardian.co.uk »
#
Australia: giving it large, driving us bananas - Times Online
May 9, 2008 ... Thanks to the conceptual artist Mark Wallinger, Ebbsfleet, Kent may soon boast a 164ft (49m) tall sculpture of a horse that Britain can ...
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3894461.ece


Artist Mark Wallinger proposes 'Stallion of the South' at Ebsfleet ...
May 8, 2008 ... Mark Wallinger's standing white stallion will be so huge that a person ... The artwork is to mark the building of Ebbsfleet International ...
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3890103.ece

Wallinger's horse chosen to be Ebbsfleet's 'Angel of the South ...
Feb 10, 2009 ... guardian.co.ukWallinger's horse chosen to be Ebbsfleet's 'Angel of the South'guardian.co.uk - 34 minutes agoMark Wallinger with his winning ...
http://www.karlforeman.com/2009/02/1...-guardiancouk/

Mark Wallinger with his proposal for the Ebbsfleet Landmark in ...
Colossal ideas... or the makings of a white elephant?. Mark Wallinger with his proposal for the Ebbsfleet Landmark in Ebbsfleet Valley Observatory....
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...14.html?action...

Mark Wallinger
Mark Wallinger is proposing an enormous white horse, 33 times life-size, to stand on Springhead, looking out over Ebbsfleet Valley and the Thames Estuary. ...
http://www.ebbsfleetlandmark.com/art...mark-wallinger

nona1

Oh no.

I knew that bloody thing was going to win...it looks hideous to me. Cliched and dull and not even good art (says me the expert, lol). If it looked like one of the chalk horses, maybe, or something a lot more stylised, but a chunky white TB in a bridle? - looks like a giant kiddies toy.

Some of the other entries were so inventive and really interesting. I did my bit and voted for a different option. Knew this damn horse would get it though. Ick. Compare the Angel of the North to a giant kiddies model horse...embarrassing.

PalenQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_the_North

Yup Angel of the North is in Gateshead a suburb of Newcastle i think - Wiki says you can see it from the main East Coast Rail Line - have to keep eyes peeled next time.

I do like very much the Angel of the North as seen on the Wiki entry.

chartley

What is this chunnel of which you speak? I know no such word in English English. Is it a colonial word?

PalenQ

The word <Chunnel> was coined by British media and has gained traction in the U.S. especially and since this is an American forum i use American when writing lest i be accused of putting on airs.

Chunnel is a logical contraction of Channel Tunnel

I wonder if the Queen will be at the big horse's unveiling, given her known affection for all things equine?

PalenQ

Bournemouth University | News and Events | Light at the end of the ...
‘Light at the End of the Chunnel’ (to be broadcast at 8.00pm on Saturday 7 April) will examine the history and symbolic significance of the tunnel. ...
http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/newsand...e_chunnel.html - 58k

Just to show that Brits also regularly use the word Chunnel and thus makes me flummoxed as to why the word Chunnel when used makes some Brits seem so anal when the doth protest it.

hetismij

Yuk!
If they wanted a white horse then they should have either gone for an Invicta look alike, or something along the lines of the Uffington chalk figure.
I wonder how long it is before some wag deposits a load of shite at it's rear end.

I liked the wing and disc more., In fact any of them were better than the horse.

PatrickLondon

>>Gateshead a suburb of Newcastle i think <<

Yup, that's the one - just the thing to say if you ever visit the Sage, canny lad....

PalenQ

OK it's part of Tyneside with Newcastle - see what i mean about Brits being....

nona1

Funny how tastes differ. The wing and dish was my least favourite option - looked like a telecoms company logo to me.

hetismij

I see what you mean nona . Which one did you prefer?

Even this http://tinyurl.com/ajcwya would have been better than Desert Orchid.

chartley

Oh, it's a yank expression!

Josser

...The word <Chunnel> was coined by British media and has gained traction in the U.S. especially and since this is an American forum i use American when writing lest i be accused of putting on airs....

Nip outside somebody and see if there's a full moon tonight ;-)
I notice that he's managed to bring the Queen into it too.

flanneruk

So "Bournemouth University" (I wonder what that used to be called?) is an expert on English now?

I'd sooner trust the bloke who writes the copy for tins of Ace Hardware's Rust Stop Machine & Implement Enamel Spray.

If there's any room for copy once they've got the name on the tin,

PalenQ

Well old chap Bournemouth University does not usually use Americanisms i would think - but words that are considered to be in use in England as well. Especially if the title of some show

I mean if i were advertising a Garage Sale - would i call it a Boot Sale? Or would i tell the mechanic my Boot won't close - of course not because that's not part of our vernacular

like i proved that Chunnel was of the British vernacular apparently if Bournemouth Univ would so casually use it.

PalenQ

flimflanner- Will the British Council shut you pie hole up about this?

The Chunnel | British Council - English Online
Since 1994 there has been a tunnel under the channel called the Chunnel. ... The word Chunnel is a made up word from the two words channel tunnel. ...
http://www.englishonline.org.cn/en/l...r/blog/chunnel

nona1

I liked the cubes and lazer one. It was also a space that provided for public performances.

I live quite near the site. Just my luck to end up with a view of a horses arse looming towards my house.

hetismij

Nona, I can see your point on that one - I hadn't realise it also allowed room for public performances. Yes it could grow on me.
Definitely better than viewing Desert Orchid's bum from you kitchen window

Josser

Scarily enough, there was a full moon on Monday.
I spotted it in my diary

PatrickLondon

I wonder if in time there will be a market for a "Horsebum View" B&B?