Now I shouldn’t be blogging today but I saw this new sculpture on Friday, learnt a bit more about it today and need a fresh way to procrastinate instead of writing an assignment. Exeter hasn’t had a fountain for several hundred years, since the Great Conduit, an ornate fountain through which water was available to the public was demolished, but there have been whisperings.
Enter Simon Ruscoe, a talented local artist with a passion for public art. Simon has been working on a large scale sculpture collective, for many years hoping that one day it would be on permanent display in his city.
The sculpture below, one of the seven figures hand cut from steel is twenty feet high and it symbolises the difficult times we are living through. If placed in a fountain as Simon hopes, it reflects society’s struggle to keep our head above water, a group united as it strives to survive.
Art is meant to be thought provoking, but the local newspaper reports that this sculpture isn’t getting totally positive feedback. Among the comments are that it is too modern, the city should have a fountain recalling the blitz in 1942 as well as some positive comments. Well I personally love it, and I wish Simon Ruscoe luck with getting it permanently placed, preferably in Exeter. This is our chance to gain an icon as powerful as the Angel of the North or the Damien Hurst’s Verity, currently residing in Ilfracombe. If not, I’m sure that someone with insight and an open mind will welcome it.
Tell me what you think, would you like it in your city centre?

http://www.simonruscoe.co.uk to learn more.