Page 39 - Studio International - July August 1972

NEWCASTLE
William Tucker

The Stuyvesant project came up at a time when
I had just started on the present (Beulah) series
of sculptures. I have already expressed my
feelings about public sculpture in this
magazine : the idea of designing a sculpture for
a particular site, even if chosen by oneself,
seems to me a gross limitation on the sculptor's
freedom of action. In the event I produced a
model based on how I thought the Beulah series
would be going the next spring, and chose a site
neutral enough to accommodate the conception
or possible developments of it. After the model
was approved, I used the Stuyvesant money to
invest in tools (notably a more powerful tube
bender) and materials, and to cover working
expenses, and continued with the second and
third sculptures in the series. By the time I had
reached the fourth (which was big enough to
work outdoors) the Newcastle city authorities
had rejected the proposed site, and the idea
had moved some way from the original model.
At the time of writing, the sculpture is finished,
but a site has yet to be found for it: which
seems to be the right way round. q

Beulah iv 1972 6ft x r8ft 9ft Steel.

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