Dreamscape
Pencilled in for our bank holiday weekend was a trip to St Helens to take a close look at the perspective distorting sculpture, Dream, by Jaume Plensa. Having driven past the beautifully subtle young girl’s face many times on the journey from Manchester to Liverpool, I had for a long time wanted to see whether the visual experience of afar could be reproduced up close with this, dare I say it, successful piece of public art.
As both a fan and a sceptic of public art I had already determined I was a fan of the work before seeing it up close. But to take the short drive off the M62 and follow signs for ‘Dream’, the work illuminates the landscape and challenges the eye to formalise a peaceful, dreaming young girls giant face against the canvas of sky and national trust parkland.
What is very important about this work for me is the involvement in the selection process and the appreciation of the importance of the location and it’s history to the local community.
At this point in time it would appear it is a relatively unknown piece of public art, and given it is a piece that is not born so much out of a corporation’s desire to imprint their stamp on their geographic surroundings, but to reflect the sentiment of the local community and a fallen industry it is certainly worth the journey and the awe it evokes.
its a really impressive sculpture