Learning To Be I

Born in London in 1950, Antony Gormley's best known work to date is the Angel of the North installed in1999 outside Gateshead (England). His work has been exhibited extensively in Britain and throughout the world.

Learning To Be I
	By Simon Thomas

Using his own body as material, tool and subject, Gormley's work explores physical presence and the space within the body. Unconcerned with copying the detail of their human body, Gormley's sculpture is not about representation but the basic dynamic of human existence.

This sculpture is part of a series which includes Learning to See, Learning to Think, and Learning to be. They express man's awakening through and self awareness. Learning to Be is man realising and acknowledging his inner spirit and soul.

To make these works the artist creates casts of his own body using plaster. Wrapped in cling film, an assistant quickly applies plaster soaked bandages around the artists figure. It dries very quickly, during which tine the artist himself is immobilised and in darkness. The plaster cast is cut away from the body and then strengthened with fibreglass. Finally thick sheets of lead are beaten over the mould and soldered together until a complete skin is achieved. This explains why air is listed as a component of the work; it fills the empty inner space, which is like a container for the absent body.