Not the best of weeks, Phil has had a bad cold, and gave it to me so am not feeling the best. I also gave up alcohol last Sunday which (apparently) made me grumpy at work 😀 . I stopped giving up last night so I must be happy again, but I’m feeling poorly so I can’t tell.
In spite of that, Sophie and I had a little outing today, to see the visiting Knife Angel. We also went into the Baltic art gallery, and went to lunch in The Empourium just over the river in Newcastle. I took the Rollei but I noticed after a few pictures that the counter has not moved, though it feels like the film is being wound on, so not sure what’s going on. I’ll take a few more to see if it gets to the end of the film and it’s just the counter not working, but it may be the film isn’t being wound on and I’ll have to retrieve it. 🙄 I should just stick with the Minolta, no problems with that little baby.
The Knife Angel is a 27ft sculpture crafted out of 100,000 knives that have been surrendered to police forces across the country. It is also known as the National Monument Against Violence & Aggression. It was first unveiled in 2017 and has been touring the UK since. Artist Alfie Bradley worked with The British Ironwork Centre who contacted the Home Office requesting permission to collect knives from police forces in the hope of prompting new knife amnesties with the Ironworks offering to supply each force with knife bins free of charge. Permission was granted and the campaign took off.
Once the knives and weapons were delivered to The Centre’s workshop in Shropshire, artist Alfie got to work. He created a structure out of steel and formed the basic shape which the knives could then be welded onto.
He then disinfected every blade, some which were still blood-stained.
He then blunted each knife before welding it onto the sculpture. The wings were created using the blades only, creating a feather like appearance.
Fraggle's Otherverse 
That’s a powerful sculpture. Sorry to say I had never heard of it before.
Get well soon, both of you. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes, it’s here until the end of February then on to somewhere else. Cheers Pete.
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Get well! And have that evening cocktail – it’s good for you! As far as the Angel – that is a powerful piece of work, more so because of the history behind it.
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Cheers Naomi! G&T on the go 🙂
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That’s my girl!
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Wow! TheKnife Angel is quite impressive as is the story behind it. I hope you and Phil feel better quickly!😙
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Cheers Kim.😘
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It’s beautiful, but more than a little depressing as well. I hope you’re both feeling a bit better today.
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Cheers April!
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Splendid work, fraggles. I especially like shot #2 of it. I’ve seen this work twice: once from a distance behind locked glass doors at the Ironwork Centre; and then again by chance when it happened to be on display outside of Liverpool Cathedral (https://geotopoi.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/knife-angel/). A very poignant and thought-provoking artwork.
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It is amazing close up, the sheer amount of knives in it is staggering.
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Shocking, the expression the artist got is breathtaking. I understand when a film camera doesn’t work. I hope it gets better or just taken aside.
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Thanks Francis.
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Wow! How amazing.
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Cheers Marland!
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