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Ebbsfleet Shortlist Narrowed to Three Proposals

By ARTINFO

Published: October 2, 2008
KENT, England—Richard Deacon, Mark Wallinger, and Daniel Buren have been selected from the shortlist of five to refine and expand their proposals for the Ebbsfleet landmark in Kent, England, reports the Guardian. The proposed £2 million ($3.5 million) commission is set to be 50 meters high, making it one of the U.K.'s tallest sculptures.

All three finalists take inspiration for their sculptures from the environment where it will stand. Richard Deacon's "nest" sculpture of steel latticework references the archaeological discoveries made at the site. Last year's Turner Prize winner, Mark Wallinger, is proposing an enormous white horse sculpture inspired by Horsa, the semi-mythological leader of the Anglo-Saxons, with the white horse as a symbol of Kent, while the Guardian's art critic, Adrian Searle, describes Daniel Buren's tower of stacked cubes that reflects the surrounding landscape and is intersected by a single laser beam of light as a "retro-futuristic sculpture" that has "a real edge of unfamiliarity and strangeness."

Victoria Pomery, chair of the selection panel for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Project said, "The panel was very excited by all the submissions and has decided to take three forward for further development before making a final decision." Each artist has been asked to explore the engineering and financial aspects of their proposals before a final decision is made in January 2009. The work is expected to be completed by 2010.

 

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