“Framing the Landscape”

A new piece of art erected in Newton Wood entitled “Framing the Landscape” and with the sub-title “Many people look but only a few see”. I don’t know who the artist is. There is a signature but it’s indecipherable. There are also a couple of logos engraved on the frame: the National Trust and the sponsor, Grand Central Railway Co. Ltd., with a couple more, the University of Huddersfield and the fabricator’s, on the reverse.

Do I like it? Well I’m not in the least arty but I do like the work of those artists who use natural materials such as Andrew Goldsworthy, Miha Brinovec or Spencer Byles. My first thought was yuck but maybe when the frame has a patina of rust and the bracken has regrown covering the easel it will not be so obtrusive. I didn’t like the Angel of the North at first but I have to admit that has grown on me. Although that of course is in an inner city and not in the beauty of the National Park. Furthermore although somewhat discrete I saddened by the addition of the various logos, especially that of a sponsor and fear the slippery slide of turning Roseberry Topping into a theme park.