The announcement by Tessa Jowell on 31 July, that the scheme chosen
to be commissioned to build the memorial fountain to Diana, Princess
of Wales in Hyde Park is that of the American landscape designer
Kathryn Gustafson is entirely the right choice in this instance.
Fifty-eight designs had been submitted, reduced to a short list
of 11. David Sylvester, the art critic, was also on the Committee
of judges, but sadly died before the finally convened meeting. Neither
of the two finalists, Gustafson and Anish Kapoor the sculptor, with
architects Future Systems, were traditional: in fact, both are creative
individuals working on the leading edge of their respective professions.
Gustafson has already been praised for important memorials, such
as Beiruts Garden of Forgiveness, and the Square of Human
Rights, Evry, France. Anish Kapoor is a former Turner Prize winner,
and Future Systems are at the forefront of creative architecture
that maximises new technology as a tool rather than as an end in
itself.
Kapoors quadrilateral derived curved dome of water was to
be located inaccessibly in the Serpentine, an invocation of object
art and the sanctity of the artists work and individualised
identity. There was only visual contact possible by the public.
Children might have drowned if they were drawn out to it. By contrast,
Gustafson, as pre-eminently a landscape designer, observed and surveyed
the genius loci of the site. Perhaps she seeks also to invoke the
sanctity of the island surrounded by water, where Princess Dianas
grave actually lies, at Althorp in Northamptonshire. But Gustafson
here in London deliberately renders the site accessible and attractive
both to children and to adults. The oval site reads as feminine
and maternal as was Diana. The water is interactive, spilling along
its course, round and down the gradual incline of the site. The
water also varies in speed of flow, and pitch of sound emanating,
from its shallow, atavistic ring. Leaves, sticks, toy boats, will
run the rapids or pan out slowly. The sanctuary will be enhanced
by newly planted trees.
There have been two powerful lobbies at bay in seeking to influence
the decision. The architecture lobby and the British art lobby were
conjoined for the event, as an almost unbeatable professional combination
backing Kapoor and Future Systems. Their view of the Gustafson scheme,
as summarised by Jonathan Glancey, architectural critic of The Guardian,
Glancey is an outstanding judge of architecture, but here he gets
it wrong. Well, this is not exactly architecture, but a splishy-splashy
water feature: inoffensive and forgettable. For 3 million,
Gustafson will do better than that. Lord Rogers is quoted, typically,
as bemoaning a lost opportunity for British art.
In Britain there is always a problem over memorials. While great
skill and technical sculptural ability went into the 20th century
war memorials across the country, we seem lost when it comes to
the individual commemoration. There are exceptions, such as that
in Whitehall to Field Marshal Slim: Bomber Harris is
cliched. Churchill is swathed in clothing like a swaddled child
(in other words a sculptural cop-out.) The Angel of the North, outside
Gateshead, by Antony Gormley, is by contrast a masterpiece of scale,
seeking to commemorate something. All thanks then to Kathryn Gustafson
for the relief offered by her scheme, and the promise of fulfilment.
So water will enter the ring that defines Dianas space. The
uppermost channel will be large, 160ft by 260ft and will flow down
in two directions from the top of the hill at the Serpentine bridge.
One side will reveal a torrent, but the other will run smoothly
across a kind of dish and along a flatter incline and away. The
sanctity of the personal space, accessible to all will only be emphasised
by a yet to be designated planting plan. But Gustafson will not
embrace the kind of clutter that caused one opponent to suggest
some affinity to the Chelsea Flower Show aesthetic. We can all remain
confident that her work will enhance both the memories engaged and
the overall spirit of the park. Whew. Sometimes in England the right
choices are actually made. And as we suggested earlier (Serpentine
Pavilion), there could be a Serpentine project still waiting for
the Kapoor/Future Systems unbeatables. The Serpentine Gallery 2003
Pavilion: it will cost one-tenth of the Diana Memorial, but could
be just as prestigious for a season How about it? Gordon might feel
prudently that a small part of the revenue to be offered by the
government from the Treasury sale of commemorative coins could trickle
across from the Serpentine Hill to the Serpentine Gallery. And let
us all be thankful in London that no committee has sought emulate
the Monolith, Oslos writhing 14 metres high column
of chilling buttocks. Here, the most popular sculptural event of
the summer to date has been the summary beheading of the sculpture
to Lady Thatcher. (The handbag was strangely left untouched.) When
in Britain we contemplate commemorative sculpture, something usually
comes unstuck.