Field

A few weeks ago the boys had an Inset day so I asked Lee if he could take the day off work so we could all do something exciting together. A few days earlier we had seen an article on the local news about Anthony Gormley's Field exhibition. He had made it in 1993 with the help of 100 people from St Helens aged 8-82 years old. Anthony won the 1994 Turner Prize with it! This is the first time the art piece has been exhibited in St Helens.

Being such huge fans of the Iron Men on Crosby beach we had to take a trip to see these tiny little urchins! We went to St Helens on the train which was, of course, a huge hit with the boys! As Lee & I stood outside the station pondering the way to go Luke pointed at the ground suddenly & said 'Look! There's a picture of ghosts on the floor!'
We followed these pictures that were stuck on the pavement all the way to St Helens College! It was a really fun treasure hunt!
It was so exciting to see the Field of 40,000 little clay people squashed into & spreading out into the distance of the exhibition room. The boys were captivated by them! They were all the same & yet so different. The ones at the front all look up towards the sky & are called 'Star Gazers'. There are tall ones, fat ones, red ones, brown ones, ones with big eyes.... I could stand & look at them all day they are so fascinating! It was great to read the information displayed outside telling us how the sculptures were made.
This man was one of the people who made the clay sculptures with his wife & his daughter (the little girl's mother). It's funny that even though he made the clay figures, he wasn't allowed to touch or photograph them at the exhibition just like everyone else!
After we had seen Field we went for lunch in Woolies! Then we bought gingerbread men from the bakers & sat in the Quaker Meeting House gardens. It was lovely!

The boys enjoyed playing on a huge boulder- an andesitic agglomerate that was put in the gardens in 1892 as the plaque says.
It was great for jumping off!!

We took the train home & finished off the trip with a visit to the National Wildflower Centre. Annie loved the daisy meadow very much!

If you are around this area I thoroughly recommend seeing Anthony Gormley's Field exhibition. it's at St Helens College until 23rd August.