Scafell Pike, inspiration to artists for many years
Cumbrians are demanding the return of a crucial piece of England’s highest mountain, which an artist has admitted taking.
Tourism bosses said they want Ecuadorian artist Oscar Santillan to give back the small stone taken from Scafell Pike.
The rock features in an exhibition at the London gallery Copperfields, and is described by the exhibition organisers as the uppermost inch of the highest mountain in England. It forms part of Santillan’s The Intruder, which has the stone embedded in a pedestal.
A private viewing is being held today at the gallery in Southwark.
A description of the exhibition says: “The exhibition ultimately draws out the obscure. Unexpected events occur: the dance of a dead philosopher is unveiled, a piece of land is taken, nature and culture collide.
“Departing from the tradition of land art in making often major modifications to the natural landscape, The Intruder presents an inch of stone carefully removed from the English countryside.
“At a glance it is seemingly insignificant and yet the material is carefully presented. Scaling the 3,028ft Scafell Pike in the Lake District, the artist has taken the uppermost inch of the highest mountain in England.
Scafell Pike summit: 'an entire nation’s height is modified'
“An entire nation’s height is modified and its landscape redefined by means of a single precise action. The artist explores the way in which human categories are imposed on nature: the largest, the tallest, the most powerful.”
Cumbria Tourism points out the mountain has inspired artists and writers for a long time, including most recently film-maker Terry Abraham, who produced Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike, recently broadcast on BBC4.
Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: “We are all aware that Cumbria’s landscape has long inspired generations of artists. These include international greats like JMW Turner, Ruskin, Schwitters and Li Yyan-chia, considered to be one of the founding fathers of Chinese abstract painting.
“These individuals have all taken a piece of this landscape away in the figurative sense.
“This is taking the mickey and we want the top of our mountain back.
Oscar Santillan's The Intruder. Photo: Copperfields
“At the very least we would like to see the piece returned to the county it has been removed from. Perhaps the artist would consider returning it in time for Lakes Culture’s spring arts programme, LakesIgnite, which runs until 26 May, and will include works like PaperBridge by environmental artist Steve Messam.”
Santillan’s exhibition also includes The Wandering Kingdoms, which ‘draws on the little known process of the early documentation of birdcalls’ and Afterword, in which he ‘connects elements as diverse as philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a defective typewriter, and dance’.
Mike Gibson
25 March 2015When I first climbed Scarfell Pike as a small boy in the 1960's at the age of 9 I took the highest rock home. It was about 1 inch by 3/4 of an inch by 1/4 of an inch. I often thought about this over the years. In that time (1960's to 70's) we were all encouraged to wield geological hammers, find stuff out and collect samples (even smell the gas fracking potential of slate). My mum added the stone to the garden collection of geological collections all given a label by my three brothers and myself. Sadly in the garden the pile of rocks lost the labels, but I am fortunate in having a photographic memory of location and context and one day intend to return the rock to a home where it will be appreciated. That is once I have found it under the ground. And I have found rocks from so many places in that mind set and to date as I dig my long deceased parents garden not only do I find my childhood past, but the hidden history of my childhood. My first cracked open ammonite is in a layer with Lego bits in that garden heap which contained 20 lead solders, the first Britons heavy horse to be sold in Yorkshire and I have yet to review my fathers picture(transparencies) to see if any of this is documented.
Jon
25 March 2015If Scafell Pikes is 3028 feet high, he's nicked a lot more than one little stone.
Bob
25 March 2015It certainly felt about 180ft higher than that when we were last up there. The 3,028ft figure is a quote from the gallery website, but they're now being a bit coy. All mention of the stone's provenence seems to have disappeared, along with its picture. However, there is now a description of a horse looking at its own reflection.
Bob Smith
Editor
ROSS
25 March 2015Scafell Pike's a war memorial
Dave
25 March 2015That's not art, it's a rock on a table! I'd much rather look at any of the photographs taken by the other thousands of visitors to Scafell Pike than look at this nonsense. I wonder how many years of college and university the "artist" had to complete in order to put a rock on a table and talk a load of rubbish about it!
madcarew
26 March 2015Maybe the National Park Authority sold the rock to him?
fellsman
26 March 2015Cumbria tourist board have used this insignificant act to stage manage a publicity stunt. I also smell a rat here, the national park may well have sold this element of the fell to the artist ;-).
By the way why use ft? We went metric years ago.
TH
26 March 2015I would have more respect for the "artist" if he'd filled a 70ltr rucksack with stones and carried them down all by himself. Some walkers on the Pike can't even carry down an empty plastic water container. On the other hand, Londoners maybe don't see rocks very often. Seriously though, it's not as if we're short of stones up here. This story would be better on April 1st.
Don't tell Natural England or they'll be starting up a prosecution.
Sheepy
26 March 2015I dug a load of rocks out of my garden a couple of weeks back. He can have those instead if he likes.
What would any of those poncy thickwits in the art gallery know. He could have just picked it up from anywhere.
I made Kidsty Pike an inch higher last week. Is that art? To be honest I just felt that the summit cairn was so pathetic it needed another small stone on it. It didn't look any different afterwards.
OutdoorsAndy
26 March 2015Wow, where to start….
The question is, did he chip a bit off or pick up a loose stone? There is a difference here I think. A loose stone would have been placed by another person, (in all probability), and he was deluding himself and others to say it was the tallest bit, (if that was the case).
IMO the worst element of this is the column inches devoted to such a poor artist. Conceptual art is IMO week at best and thrives on this type of hype. Sadly it overshadows the truly great art that is created by our society and degrades art in the public’s eyes- the true tragedy of the Modern art movement.
Daniel Kirk
01 April 2015omg people.. i envy your problems! 2 billion are starving... war in the ukraine... etc. and you and you are bit**ing about a 1 cubic cm portion of a freakin' mountin. do you hear yourself??? you gotta be kidding! :D kirk out!
OutdoorsAndy
07 April 2015Kirk, to start with, you’re commenting on this too, so pot kettle??
I am well aware of war in the Ukraine and the misery of many of my fellow humans across the globe, from various issues. I see all life as sacred and so see all unnecessary suffering of all life a sad and often terrible thing.
I am a volunteer worker, (when not at my day job), I sign petitions and donate to charities on a regular basis, (ones I see as helping alleviate said suffering). I am active politically and hope to affect a positive change in society. I was staff nurse and worked at the sharp end, so to speak, so have some personal experience of human suffering.
However, I am also passionate about less critical issues in life. The “outdoors” and all it brings is one such area. I can’t concentrate all my time and effort on the suffering and injustices of the planet, (as my work as a nurse showed me). It can and often does lead to depression and unhappiness.
So, such topics as are found on Gruff are a great diversion from the ills of the world and can make a positive contribution to our society.
I am sorry you took offence at the time others and I have taken to comment on a strange and to you irrelevant topic. Not sorry for the comments, but sorry for you that you don’t understand why we have left them in the first place.
But I guess it takes all sorts…