It
wasn't an auspicious opening.
A
dingy part of North Belfast. And a gang of teenagers stealing paving
slabs at the park entrance. They pause, sneer a little as I walk
past, then resume work.
I
ascend the grassy slope. A familiar view from atop the rise, huge
grey stones standing in a ring.
Screams
and howls. Many people careering about.
Not
a neolithic sacrifice to a pagan god. But the fun of running,
jumping, tumbling and bouncing back up - on an art work.
Jeremy
Deller's life-size model of Stonehenge as a bouncy castle had come to
Belfast.
Shoes
off and I join in. Me and my inner child race helter-skelter through
the stones. Different generations from divided communities are happily
larking about. The masts of Black Hill above and the great
yellow cranes of Harland and Wolff below.
And
why shouldn't public art be fun? There are some particularly stodgy
examples locally. The dull geodesic globes at the roundabout on
Broadway and the turgid maiden with the ring beside Queen's
Bridge. Afraid of causing any offence, committees of public officials seem bound to choose the most boring and least memorable designs.
Well
done Jeremy Deller. Unleash that inner child.
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