Encountering the Contemporary

Ragley Hall

Nick's post..'Engaging, Creating; Artist and Maker Residencies in Public Spaces', (and Rebecca's comment) - (see below), raise some interesting points concerning the relationships between the past and the present - and the complexity of of this dynamic.  I'm reminded of a couple of 'encounters' I had recently...one at Ragley Hall, in the Midlands, where the late 17th century house is surrounded by rolling parkland which is also

Contemporary Sculpture at Ragley Hall

dotted with contemporary artwork...
 Although I'm not aware that any of the 'traditional' visitors made adverse comments?...and I know that English Heritage are also introducing contemporary art into their interpretation strategies....another example is perhaps more interesting, to me anyway, with my interest in the art market & museums (not as strange a conjunction as one would think of course!);

 

Sotheby's at Sudeley Castle

This is the move by Sotheby's to sell contemporary artworks against the landscape (literally and symbolically I think) of 'heritage'.  Sotheby's 'Selling Exhibition' at Sudeley Castle (shown here) also clearly demonstrates that these fascinating developments are moving into other areas of consumption....Maybe the 'zietgiest' is the present-in-the-past-in-the-present...and maybe that's a kind of eternal zietgiest...if there can be such a thing!

Mark