15. NON OBJECT (SPIRE) by ANISH KAPOOR

KENSINGTON GARDENS  23.10.10
 TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

Not the cleverest of pictures, I’m afraid, of this lively sculpture. In particular I’m not happy about the black menacing conjoined shadows in the foreground. You can find better on
htmlanishkapoor.com/121/Non-Object-(Spire).
 

One moment this sculpture looks as if it has been poured down from the sky, the next as though it is spurting out of the earth as a glistening volcano. It could spin and dance like a top. The outer rim of the circumference even reflects the slim shiny tip, as if the metal itself can fold and bend and curve like an acrobat. 

Kapoor has said ‘ I think disorientation - or reorientation one should say - causes one to pause and I think part of the purpose has to be to somehow slow time down, to make that moment of pause as long as possible’. 

The work reminds me of one of Kapoor’s most memorable sculptures which I saw at the Hayward Gallery in 1998. There many of his pieces were incorporated into the walls and floor of exhibition area. Suck was another stainless steel funnel (upturned) but this time its centre seemed to disappear into the floor like a gigantic whirlpool. It gave the illusion of infinite depth and you almost had to brace yourself so as not to be pulled down into its  centre.  Anish Kapoor has said that at the heart of his work is the fear of oblivion, emptiness and the depiction of the void. 

POST SCRIPT Like the Sunflower Seeds installation at Tate Britain, Kapoor’s work in Kensington Park has created controversy. Even light damage with no malicious intent, such as dogs’ paw marks or human hands  would harm the reflective surface. Now there is a round –the-clock team of security guards. The not insubstantial cast spread over 6 months, paid for by the Royal Parks Agency, a body which gets public funding and feels it has ‘a duty of care’ to ensure the works’ safety.