Grayson Perry's Death of a Working Hero, installed in Salisbury Cathedral Ash Mills
The largest-ever contemporary art exhibition held at Salisbury Cathedral, one of Englands oldest churches, has moved online amid the coronavirus pandemic via a virtual show that includes works by Mark Wallinger, Grayson Perry and Shirazeh Houshiary.
The online exhibition allows viewers to move around the cathedral, which holds one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. The sophisticated virtual device gives visitors confined to their homes under lockdown the chance to home in on works located throughout the building, from David Machs Heaven series of collages (2011) in the refectory to Wallingers video Threshold to the Kingdom (2000). Pieces from the cathedrals permanent collection—sculptures by Dame Elisabeth Frink, Dame Barbara Hepworth and Helaine Blumenfeld—have also been incorporated into the exhibition.
The show marks the 800th anniversary of the laying of the cathedrals foundation stones. “Eight hundred years ago, people pitched up at the site and achieved something extraordinary,” says Jacquiline Creswell, the exhibitions curator and Salisbury Cathedrals visual arts advisor. “I want to ask: what is it about human beings that can inspire such creativity? The exhibition was conceived as a celebration of the human spirit and human endeavour, manifested through the faith and skill that drove the builders and their community on.”
Eduardo Paolozzi's Daedalus BNPS Zachary Culpin
The virtual platform launched on 28 April, the day the foundation stone was laid 800 years ago and a month after the show was halted due to the coronavirus outbreak. “We started installing 5 March, but by 15 March we began to get concerned,” Creswell says. “I called in the technical team and began to consult the clerk of works.”
She hopes to keep the works in situ until early 2021, giving visitors the chance to see them in the flesh after lockdown measures are lifted. “I dont think the digital platform can compensate for the beauty of art, but wRead More – Source
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