With the Help of Anthony Gormley

On Monday morning we had a family and friends trip down to the British Library. There's not that much to see but Codex Alexandrius and the little Tyndale New Testament are always worth a look. They are also marking 250 years since American Independence and are showing a handwritten copy on sheepskin parchment, the only handwritten ceremonial copy to exist alongside the original manuscript (the Matlack Declaration held at the National Archives in Washington DC). This one is the Sussex Declaration and is on loan from West Sussex Record Office.

Later we got a coffee out on the concourse I placed it on a metal sculpture. It turned out to be an Antony Gormley piece so abit irreverent, although someone who pointed out to us what we were doing thought Mr Gormley would love it. It is perhaps a good sermon illustration of how easily we are irreverend and miss the sacred right in front of us.

A new friend for Roosevelt and Churchill

I'm not sure how long Rosevelt and Churchill have been sat outside the Catto Gallery in Hampstead. They have acquired a new friend, however. I first saw her, I think, around Hallowe'en in a bin. They both seem to like her.

Pikachu and Pokeballs

Another of my son's papier mâché creations. Can't think what brought this on.

Bronze Sculptures

I had the opportunity to go with others to a bronze foundry the other day in the Docklands area of London. The above video gives you a good idea of the process, although it is another foundry. We went to Bronze Age. They weren't pouring that day so we missed the most exciting bit but it was fascinating.

Model for a hotel

When I was in Trafalgar Square recently I noticed the new sculpture on the fourth plinth. it is called Model for a Hotel 2007 (formerly Hotel for the Birds) and was unveiled about a fortnight ago (Nov 07) a 5-m by 4.5-m by 5-m architectural model of a 21-storey building made from coloured glass. it looks a little like a construction from one of those educational games kids had in the seventies.

It is by Thomas Schütte (Born Nov 16, 1954, Oldenburg, Germany) "an important German contemporary artist". From 1973-1981 he studied art at the Kunstakadenie, Dusseldorf under Gerhard Richter and Fritz Schwegler.

The work cost £270,000 and was funded primarily by good old Ken the Mayor and the Arts Council (ie taxpayers like us). Sandy Nairne, director of the nearby National Portrait Gallery and chairman of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group that recommended Schütte's proposals to the Mayor in 2004, has said: "There will be something extraordinarily sensual about the play of light through the coloured glass. ... [I]t's going to feel like a sculpture of brilliance and light." In fact it looks like a construction from one of those educational games kids had in the seventies.