Panopticons

[lindsay ormerod]

Feast yer eyes on tonight's Evening Telegraph;a stunning array of "artistic interpretations" ,one of which may well be coming to a hill near you soon!!!

[Mick]

Pick a panopticon
A GIANT mirror and a 12-metre-high spike are among new statues being planned for East Lancashire.

The Panopticon Project will see public works of art in all six boroughs of the region by 2007.

So far designs have been chosen for Blackburn, Pendle and Rossendale.

Now three designs each have been submitted for Burnley, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, as part of the second stage of the project.

Each idea will go on show in the boroughs this week, for the public to see and comment on for the first time.

Subject to planning permission, Hyndburn's design will see artwork placed on The Coppice, Peel Park, Accrington.

Suggested ideas are a series of giant mounds, called 'Landroom' to be used as a new public space, a wooden tower and viewing platform, known as the 'Coppice Wind Tower' and a giant mirror to reflect the countryside and sky, which as yet has no name.

In Burnley, a statue could be built at Crown Point.

'King Cotton' is a steel viewpoint and windbreak engraved with the thoughts of local people.

The 'Singing Ringing Tree' is a structure made from recycled scaffolding pipes that makes sounds as the wind blows across it.

'Air Core' is a circle of clear, three-metre-high tubes.

Then in the Ribble Valley, the chosen design could be built on Kemple End.

'Fold' is a cast iron shelter with viewing windows, while 'Kemple Pike' is a 12-metre-high metal needle.

Finally 'neoSCOPE' is a long, sheltering wall, sunk into an existing dip in the ground, with a special viewing window to the surrounding landscape.

The displays will be on show until January 24 as part of a public consultation, which will let local residents have their say on the plans.

Designs for the first three panopticons for Blackburn, Pendle and Rossendale were announced in summer 2003.

Planning permission is now in place for `Colourfields', to be built at The Cannon Battery, Corporation Park, Blackburn, and 'The Atom', destined for Wycoller Country Park, Pendle, and building is expected to begin in the first half of 2005.

The third panopticon, `Halo', will be built, subject to planning permission, on Top o' Slate above Haslingden

[Tealeaf]

Come back Flying Saucer, all is forgiven.

[Darby]

Another astounding blunder of megolithic proportions.

Just use the money to provide Community wardens or more ambulances or better services or more dentists. Then I can lie back and have some peace, and not be hounded by the un-natural view.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Out of that lot I suppose the mounds sound the least obtrusive but please please please spare us the giant mirror!

[mez]

wot a load of twaddle // more wasted money.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Couldn't they find anything better to spend the money on......fixing all the loose flagstones and getting rid of the paddling ponds on Broadway would be a good start.
Scrubbing the graffiti off buildings would be another use for the money. HBC can look at monstrosities like this but can't afford to keep the Wardens. The words 'P*** up' and 'brewery' spring to mind.

[Acrylic-bob]

You can view the proposals here:

http://www.panopticons.uk.net/news/news.htm

I have had a look and I have to say that they are, if anything, worse than I expected.

Of the three the first proposal appears to be the least offensive, but it will destroy the remains of the training trenches dug by the Pals before they left Accrington.

For the rest, all I can say is that I am staggered by the dearth of imagination evident in these collections of scaffolding and other left overs. Do not misunderstand me, I am not against contemporary sculpture, far from it. Some of it is jolly striking and is an enhancement to any area in which it is sited. But this collection of creative abortions is about as far from art as it is possible to get. And before anyone suggests that I do not know anything about Art and Landscape installations; I hold a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art, thus I think I know a little whereof I speak.

If anything they appear to be even less in sympathy with what Mid Pennine Arts described as a "Sensitive Site" than the first bunch of proposals.

I hope the people of Accrington exercise their good sense and deliver a resounding thumbs down to these vile, pathetic and insulting proposals.

The cry "Not In My Back Yard" should be heard loud and clear!

[Sparkologist]

I don't know whether this indicates myn thought processes, but when I first saw the artists impression of the green mounds, in tonights Evening Telegraph, I thought they were Mrs Shrek's buzz'ums!

[Uncle Mick]

Apparently the green mounds nare pretty high so they would be very ugly even if they blended in with the setting. Your local contact is Accrington Observer columnist Gayle Highton, who I know and know she has`nt been up the Coppice for many years, if ever!! When I had my dog I went up there every day of the year and still go up once a week to get away from the towns scum, so whos the better to judge what should or should`nt go up there.I believe these sculptures are meant to be in the style of The Angel of The North and attract visitors and tourists. I dont think Mid Pennine arts have indicated where these people are going to park. Avenue Parade perhaps then the wardens can ticket them and so reduce the councils budget deficit!

[park381]

http://www.panopticons.uk.net/downloads/hyndburn.pdf

Option 1 - a series of christmas puds
Option 2 - An upturned waste bin
Option 3 - What can I say, "beam me up Scotty" av had enough

OH DEAR ITS NOT TRUE...............IS IT

[Acrylic-bob]

Looking closely at the information presented on the website quoted above it appears that this set of proposals will cost between
£50,000 and £100,000 to implement.

[park381]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

Looking closely at the information presented on the website quoted above it appears that this set of proposals will cost between
£50,000 and £100,000 to implement.

WHAT an ESTIMATE, wish my boss would have accepted estimates as far ranging as that
would have made my life easier.............WOW add on the OVERSPEND and yer lookin at............the mind boggles £150,000
could end up with a

[WillowTheWhisp]

None of those are in keeping with the area nor do they enhance the Coppice in any way whatsoever. We were just talking about the giant mirror idea and reflected (pardon the pun) on the fact that sunlight + mirror + dry grass could equal fire of serious proportions. Have they thought this through?

[park381]

Panopticon n. Structure, space or device providing a comprehensive or panoramic view.
That is the definition.

Panopticons and Land are projects of the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network (ELEAN), managed by Mid Pennine Arts and supported by the Northwest Development Agency, the East Lancashire Partnership Regional Park programme, Arts Council England North West, Lancashire County Council, the local authorities of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale, and Pendle Leisure Trust
These are the people involved in the project

Panopticons is an ambitious four-year project to create six new architect-designed landmarks for East Lancashire – one in each district. They will take the form of shelters, viewing platforms or beacons and will be built on high-point sites on key routes around the East Lancashire Regional Park, commanding stunning views.
Their definition, note "commanding stunning views"

They are to be called Panopticons – literally 'all-seeing' structures – and will be a unique and striking attraction for local people and visitors, a symbol of the regeneration of East Lancashire.
What can you say to that.

I was going to add a photo(but will have to sort out how?), taken whilst out walking on Leck Fells, its called The 3 Men
a totally natural thing built on a high point on the fells, and am sure that others who venture out on to the hills have also seen many good views and monuments that blend in with the surroundings. So why spoil the Coppice with one of these "Man Made" thoughtless things.