Norbert Attard’s Stone Pier
March 11th, 2007 > Posted in: Art Discussion
At six yesterday evening, the switch was flicked and the last instalment of Turner Contemporary’s Arrivals series burst to life.
TURN. to colour, the latest work of Maltese artist, Norbert Francis Attard consists of painted doors and windows along the pier, and a one off light installation that appeared to paste the vivid colours onto the black night sky, making visible that which is seen by day. I was impressed.
By now it is too late to enjoy the light installation, but the spectrum of colours (themselves inspired by Margate and Turner’s paintings) will remain - as the official write-up suggests, “the economy of this gesture is captivating - redefining the pier as a focal point for the town”.
It will be interesting to see how this work is received by the town. The commission was well worth the effort; the pier looks far nicer (dare I say, very attractive), but it’s sad that we had to wait until now to see the pier kept to a respectable standard.
Might I suggest that we retain some element of the light installation as a permenant feature? Given the right treatment, the pier could become an impressive icon for the town.
Find out more about Norbert Attard at his website.
Read more about the work at Turner Contemporary
Thursday March 15, 2007 at 2:18 pm
This show was simply fantastic and shows how beautiful the pier could look.let us hope whoever gets the tender for the pier takes note of how wonderful margate can look and the lights reflected in the water and our wonderful sunsets are breathtaking.
Tuesday March 20, 2007 at 8:12 am
Hmm, I didn’t get to see the ’show’ so can’t comment on how great it was. I can comment that the last two times I’ve visited Margate since the show I’ve thought the pier colours look awful during the day and for the evening? Well, the lights are switched off so no change there. I’m not saying that money shouldn’t be spent on art, but that while so many basic services are lacking in Margate, that expense like this in a project which was a one time only event is likely to not encourage support for further artistic projects. If Margate are serious about creating a real cultural quarter they should make sure they are open to visitors. I’ve been coming for 6 months and have found everything closed most of the time. What Margate needs are real projects with longevity not PR opportunities.
Tuesday January 29, 2008 at 5:30 pm
[…] covered Nobert Attard’s light installation last year and suspect that the new lighting scheme could be along similar […]