Spring is sprung
07 March 2011
Spring has sprung at Asthall Manor. Here are some hellebores and snowdrops floating in a beautiful pink bowl.
Friday July 9th
11 July 2010
On Friday July 9th, world-renowned sculptor Peter Randall-Page gave an illustrated talk about his work. Here, Peter talks to sculptors Anthony Turner and Frederic Chevarin during a walk around the exhibition.
Njabulo Madlala
04 July 2010
On Sunday, 4th July, on form was enriched by singing from acclaimed South African baritone Njabulo Madlala, winner of the 2010 Kathleen Ferrier award. Njabulo sang three African songs in the ballroom, as a preview of a concert he will give in Oxford on August 23rd. (Holywell Music Rooms, 7.30 pm. Bookings 01865 202443 Gina Cowen)
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Artists in residence
29 June 2010
John Joekes, Jude Tucker and Luke Dickinson were some of the artists in residence at Asthall Manor last week. Jude has been carving a new piece in alabaster during the show.
Emily Young
29 June 2010
Emily Young, shown here beside her work The Equation of Time , visited on form on Friday 24th June to talk about her work and sign copies of her extraordinary book, _Time in the Stone.
Dance and Drama groups perform at Asthall
29 June 2010
On Sunday June 27th, two groups from Oxford’s Pegasus Theatre came to on form. First, the youth theatre group performed ‘Caring for Lear’ – a moving adaptation of King Lear. The piece made inspired use of different parts of the garden, with the audience following the players from site to site. Later in the afternoon, the Dance Company performed their version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, which again made use of various different parts of the garden, and provided an inventive response to some of the sculpture.
*For more information about Pegasus Theatre, or to make a donation, go to
http://www.pegasustheatre.org.uk*
The Gardeners
25 June 2010
Head gardener Mark Edwards (right) and assistant gardener Michal Dabrowski (left) are responsible for the amazing show of roses and other flowers which form the backdrop to our exhibition.
School visit
25 June 2010
Children from an Oxfordshire primary school came to visit on form on Thursday, 24th July. They particularly enjoyed watching sculptor Jude Tucker as she carved a piece of alabaster on site. Their teacher said she wished she had allowed an entire day for the visit.
Chocstar
25 June 2010
Chocstar visited on form on Wednesday, 23rd July. Petra Barran, assisted by her brother Ferdie and watched closely by resident gourmands Billie and Baby, dispensed ice cream and brownies to happy visitors.
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NGS evening
24 June 2010
On June 19th, the only wet evening of the exhibition so far, we opened late for the National Gardens Scheme. Head gardener Mark Edwards (right), along with rose expert Robert Mattock, spoke to Yellow Book enthusiasts about the garden.
Hazaar
16 June 2010
Geologist Philip Powell
15 June 2010
Philip Powell, MA, Honorary Associate Curator of the Natural History Museum in Oxford, came to on form to speak about the different stones used in the sculptures. This is one of a series of informal talks which will be taking place during the month-long exhibition.
But is it green?
14 June 2010
The other day I was talking to somebody about on form, and enthusing, as I tend to, about the aeons of tiny sea creatures, volcanic explosions, sedimentation and erosion, and how the history of the material means that stone sculpture slows us down and reconnects us to the landscape, and he just looked at me and said “I’d rather just go and climb a mountain.” Well, there is that. I am constantly struggling to reduce my carbon footprint, so what am I doing, I wonder, encouraging the quarrying of stone, the flights to Italy and India to buy it, the great big lorries that bring it here and take it away again? Shouldn’t the stone just stay in the ground? It’s where you just have to hope that the pursuit of beauty and meaning justifies a certain amount of disruption. We’re not dead. We’re breathing. So we’d better carry on creating. At least, I argue rather lamely, these artists work in open-sided barns, quite often with hand tools, and not in the giant heated studios of Bratart. And this stuff does, after all, slow people down.
Opening Weekend
14 June 2010
Over 1000 people visited on form 2010 during our opening weekend.
Tea break
01 June 2010
Sculptors and friends take a break during the installation of Immanuel Klein’s Erosion.
Installation
26 May 2010
The first day of our main installation fortnight went well, with Simon Hitchens, Julian Rena, Luke Dickinson and Rachel Schwalm all arriving to deliver and instal work. The day was covered by a journalist from BBC Oxford, and Simon Hitchens, Rosie Pearson and Billie the dog all featured on the evening news.
Corpus arrives at Asthall
03 May 2010
On 29th April, Peter Randall-Page’s Corpus arrived from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This sculpture, carved in 2009 in Kilkenny limestone, weighs 14 tonnes. It was made for Randall-Page’s YSP show, and this is the first time it has been seen in the south of England.
Artists’ lunch
08 March 2010
on form artists old and new met to discuss their ideas and look around the garden and landscape.
Artists’ lunch
08 March 2010
On March 5th, 23 sculptors in stone gathered at Asthall Manor for what has become one of on form’s most important traditions – the inspirational artists’ lunch.
The Big Green Bus at Asthall
19 November 2009
This summer, Asthall was host to the Big Green Bus, which toured the country fuelled by chip-fat before the local elections in May.
Bridget McCrum
25 June 2008
On 25th June, Bridget McCrum talked about her work as a sculptor in stone. These informal artist talks have been a new feature at on form 08, and have proved very popular with visitors. Artists have also enjoyed the feedback on their work. At our next exhibition, in 2010, we will draw up a time-table of talks so that visits can be timed to catch a particular artist.
Seckou Keita at Asthall Manor
20 June 2008
On Friday, 20th June, 250 people came to Asthall to listen to Seckou Keita, the renowned Senegalese Kora player, and his quintet. The on form sculpture exhibition formed a stunning backdrop for the performance, which was the final concert in the spring series organised by Big Village.
Sculpture and music
20 June 2008
Sculpture and music at Asthall.
School visit
19 June 2008
Sculptors Anthony Turner and Dominic Welch spoke to pupils from St Hugh’s School about their work, and the various tools that they use.
Artist talk
14 June 2008
Renowned sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld spoke to visitors on Sunday June 15th. The questions asked, and answers given, ranged from the technical to the aesthetic to the psychological. Helaine says that she has never seen her work sited as effectively as it is at on form 08.
Helaine Blumenfeld
12 June 2008
Helaine Blumenfeld, whose outdoor pieces, Il Vento and Angels:Harmony, have been much admired at on form will be speaking about her work during the afternoon of Sunday, June 14th. Helaine is a vice president of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.
Strawberries and sculpture
12 June 2008
We were blessed with beautiful weather on June 7th, and strawberries, scones and Pimms were enjoyed by all who attended our Private View. We also sold several sculptures.
The Winner
31 May 2008
Because of the accident, Regis and Ana, with a friend who was on a week’s holiday from Valencia, came to instal his sculpture The Winner three days later than intended. The weather had turned, some gantrey legs had disappeared, and it was almost dark and very cold before The Winner was in place. More installation pictures can be seen here.
Undaunted
31 May 2008
When she came to help her partner Regis Chaperon instal The Winner, Ana brought with her a clay maquette of the new sculpture she is going to make, in time for the on form opening, to replace Lotus. She has called it The Eye of the Phoenix.
Stone mishap
31 May 2008
Sadly, Ana Ruiz Agui’s sculpture, Lotus, was broken when her truck was run into on its way to the on form installation.
Installation pictures
26 May 2008
Gantreys, tripods, trolleys, sack trucks, hi-ab lorries, tele-porters, boards and buckets and blood and sweat and tears:
all are needed in profusion to instal the many tons of stone that have arrived at Asthall Manor in the past few days. You can see more installation pictures here
Curious neighbours
12 May 2008
Astonishing forms are emerging from dusty stone workshops around the country, in preparation for their arrival at on form 08 at Asthall Manor. These Devonshire cows are regarding sun-warmed sculpture by Anthony Turner, in Purbeck marble and Ancaster Weatherbed.
Chocstar at Asthall
26 April 2008
Asthall Manor was lucky enough to be a stopping off point for chocstar and the Chocolate Tour of Britain. Chocstar is Petra Barran and her van and a lot of chocolate. She is looking for chocolate lovers to invite her to supper in exchange for pudding.
Sculptors hard at work
19 March 2008
Eighteen sculptors working in stone are busy preparing work for on form 08
You can see more pictures of work in progress on our flickr site
