I found the Anthony Gormley exhibition at the RA in Piccadilly amazing and totally thought provoking.
The room with the figures standing or hanging from all the walls and ceilings could have been depicting my friends standing in the countries they live in; hanging from the ceiling was those in Australia or New Zealand, at right angels on the walls were those in LA or Malaysia. Simplistic but really made me think. Plus these figures were inside the room and we all stand on the outside of the planet.
But the thing that really got me more than anything was a few lines written in one of Gormleys' notebooks, hidden amongst all the others in a glass cabinet :
I sit with the mouth I speak with
My head is a turning knob
My head is a root
My body thinks
My head wills
My head is full of things
My body is a beautiful world
My head rules it
My body sends me fine feelings
My head turns to the things around
My head is full of holes
My body has one or two
[For comings and goings of a physical sort]
But somehow my body feels
It's only there to get my head where the foot is
Those last couple of lines. We treat our bodies as a form of transport. Gosh.
And as if that's not enough, what is it saying about our heads - "My head is full of holes". I totally know that feeling but have never thought of it like that
The Gormley is on at the Royal Academy of Art in Piccadilly until December 3rd - next Tuesday - which isn't very much time to go if you haven't already. I don't think I've been as affected so much by anything I've seen for years.