Mark Wallinger Magdalen College, Oxford Mark Wallinger Magdalen College, Oxford

Education Notes

These Education Notes are written by freelance educator Miranda Millward. They contain initial guidance for group visits to see Mark Wallinger’s sculpture Y. The notes are not key stage specific, but we hope that they will be relevant to both secondary art and design teachers and fine art foundation tutors. Older pupils and students may also find the notes useful for their critical and contextual studies and project ideas.

The works discussed are reproduced at a size so that they can be printed out and used as a resource in the classroom or studio. The notes aim to give a few jumping-off points to explore not just the sculpture in College, but also the artist’s work more generally. Owing to the multiple references and ideas contained in Y these notes may be of interest to teachers of subjects other than art.

Additional copies can be downloaded from the Magdalen College website where additional information about Mark Wallinger and Y can be found.

Contents

- Introduction to Magdalen College, Oxford - Introduction to and overview of Mark Wallinger’s work - Introduction to Y and ideas for practical work and discussion - Guidance for visiting and bringing a group to Magdalen College

Before visiting or planning a visit to Y and Magdalen College please refer to the guidance sheets situated at the end of these notes.

Y is supported by Arts Council England and the Henry Moore Foundation with the generous assistance of Roger Kay, a member of the College, and his wife Izabella

All illustrations courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London except Y © Sam Frost 2008 Other images of the installation of Y © David Bickerstaff 2008

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Introduction to Magdalen College, Oxford

To celebrate its 550th anniversary Magdalen College, Oxford has commissioned the Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Wallinger to create his first-ever dedicated permanent artwork. Two years in development, the sculpture Y was unveiled on St Mary Magdalen Day 2008.

William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester founded Magdalen College in 1458. It is one of the best-known colleges in the University of Oxford and is known internationally for its high academic standing.

The College has many fine buildings. The Cloisters, Chapel, Founder’s Tower and Hall were built in the Gothic style in the later part of the 15th century. The Great Tower, a pictorial symbol of Oxford, is famous for the May Day event when the College choir sings an ancient hymn at dawn. The Georgian New Buildings, which blend into the College Gardens and grounds, were completed in 1733.

The buildings sit amid a hundred acres of lawns, woodlands and riverside walks, which are publicly accessible, and there is a deer herd that has been in existence for over 300 years. Addison’s Walk, named after the great essayist of the 18th century and father of English journalism, is about a mile in length and goes by the River Cherwell around a great water meadow. Beyond the end of Addison’s Walk is a tranquil field known as Bat Willow Meadow, which is where the new commission is sited. Maps of the grounds of Magdalen College are available from the Porters’ Lodge or they can be downloaded from the College website.

Mark Wallinger

Mark Wallinger was born in Chigwell, Essex in 1959. He studied at Chelsea School of Art (1978-81) and Goldsmiths’ College (1983-85). Wallinger has exhibited in Young British Artists II at the Saatchi Collection in 1993 and in 1997 appeared in the Royal Academy Sensation exhibition. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1995 and again in 2007 when he won.

Wallinger’s practice has developed from painting in the mid-1980s to photography, video, sculpture, performance and installation in the 1990s. His work has been prominent in the UK since the mid-1980s and he now has an international reputation as one of the most gifted conceptual artists of his generation. In 2001 he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale.

Wallinger’s works are often multifaceted, which means they have a number of meanings and work on a number of levels. His work contains elements of social commentary looking at national identity and values. Wallinger’s work can be scholarly and populist, and he uses both text and visual elements to convey his ideas. His work often presents situations where something is transformed into its opposite state by a simple change or re-reading. He chooses subjects, which he has a passionate interest in such as his artworks based on horseracing. His works can be humorous, but often has elements of political satire and moral commentary. Y is Mark Wallinger’s first dedicated and permanent public commission.

The following works by Mark Wallinger are discussed in these notes:

A Real Work of Art (1994) Ecce Homo (1999) Ghost (2001) Time and relative dimensions in space (2001) State Britain (2007) Ebbsfleet Landmark Project (2008)

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A Real Work of Art (1994) Ecce Homo (1999)

A Real Work of Art (1994) In 1993, Wallinger bought a racehorse and called it A Real Work of Art. It raced in the 1994 flat season. Wallinger was interested in analysing the culture of horse breeding and horse racing. Previously he had made a number of photo-real paintings of horses.

He registered his own racing colours of green, violet and white, which are the colours of the suffragette movement. The suffragettes campaigned for votes for women and one of their more prominent members Emily Davison threw herself under the King’s horse in the 1913 Derby. Wallinger photographed himself dressed as Davison in Self Portrait as Emily Davison (1993).

Wallinger sees horse racing and breeding as an analogy of the British class system where people are defined by their race, gender and class. Racehorses are highly desirable objects symbolising beauty, speed and success.

Ecce Homo (1999) Ecce Homo was Wallinger’s sculpture for the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. It was the first sculpture to be placed there. It is a life-sized sculpture of a man perched on the edge of the Plinth and represents Christ being presented to Pontius Pilate and the Judeans. The words ‘ecce homo’ mean ‘behold the man’ which is what Pilate said before handing Christ to the mob. The sculpture is made from marble-like resin, barbed wire and gold leaf and occupied the Plinth over the Millennium, which is believed to be the 2000th anniversary of Christ’s birth.

Like Y, Ecce Homo was installed in a public place, meaning that the viewers did not have to visit a gallery to see the artwork. Trafalgar Square is a national focal point and gathering place for crowds of protesters and revellers. In this sculpture the figure of Christ is life-sized, with his head shorn and eyes closed, which emphasises his vulnerability. It represents Christ as a human being. He is facing his destiny of the crucifixion in front of the crowds, which in this case are the crowds of viewers in Trafalgar Square.

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Ghost (2001) Time and relative dimensions in space (2001)

Ghost (2001) In 2001 Wallinger added a unicorn’s horn to transform George Stubbs’s famous horse painting Whistlejacket (1762). The piece is called Ghost because Wallinger transformed the original by firstly turning it into a black and white photograph, secondly making that photograph a negative and thirdly adding the unicorn’s horn, which is a mythical beast. Wallinger retained the original scale of the 9 ft painting, but displayed the print on a lightbox giving it a ghostly x-ray-like glow.

The original Whistlejacket by Stubbs was an icon of 18th-century British culture signifying imperial splendor and power. Wallinger’s Ghost recalls this imperial power but at the same time notes that it is lost.

Time and relative dimensions in space (2001) This piece of work was displayed at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 2001 and was a result of Wallinger’s residency there. Wallinger wanted to create a playful piece of work to reflect the fact that Museum is often visited by children. The Tardis is a popular icon from the television programme Dr Who. Wallinger saw the Museum as a repository (a store) for time and memory which contrasts with the ability of the Tardis to travel through time. A further contrast in this piece pitches the ‘highbrow’ contents of the Museum against ‘lowbrow’ popular TV culture.

The Tardis is a copy of the original police telephone boxes, which could be found in towns and cities across Britain. It is built to look like it has 4 double doors, but in fact only one set of doors would have worked. Wallinger had the Tardises made for him – this use of a ready-made recalls Marcel Duchamp’s works of the early 20th century. In Dr Who, the Tardis is much bigger inside than it can possibly be looking at its external dimensions. Wallinger situated one Tardis on the lawn outside the Museum and one inside the Museum. They could not both be seen at the same time causing the viewer to wonder if it could have moved.

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State Britain (2007) Ebbsfleet Landmark Project (2008)

State Britain (2007) In this piece, Wallinger recreated peace campaigner Brian Haw’s Parliament Square protest and installed it within the main hall at Tate Britain. It ran the full length of the Duveen Galleries. State Britain consisted of a careful and accurate reconstruction of over 600 flags, banners, photographs, hoardings and messages from which Haw had constructed his protest, which had occupied the same spot since 2001. Wallinger had taken numerous photographs of Haw’s original protest and employed a team of 15 people to recreate it. He did not work on the construction himself.

Haw began his protest in 2001 as a reaction to the sanctions imposed on Iraq. Following the passing by Parliament of the ‘Serious Organised Crime and Police Act’, which bans unauthorised demonstrations within a one kilometre radius of Parliament Square, Haw’s protest was taken away. During the night of 23 May 2006, 78 police officers arrived and removed the demonstration site, which was also Haw’s home. The edge of the exclusion zone actually runs through Tate Britain. Wallinger marked a line on the gallery floor making half of the artwork a legal protest and the other half illegal.

With State Britain, Wallinger questions issues of political freedom, freedom of expression, and the hard won right to peaceful protest as well as erosion of civil liberties in Britain today. This exhibition secured Wallinger’s nomination for and won him the Turner Prize in 2007.

Ebbsfleet Landmark Project (2008) Mark Wallinger is currently competing to be awarded a £2 million commission to create a piece of artwork for Ebbsfleet in Kent. The piece will celebrate the creation of a new community at Ebbsfleet. Wallinger’s proposal is for a giant white horse measuring 50 m high. It recalls not only the chalk horses carved into the hillsides of the UK, but also the horse that is the symbol of Kent.

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Education ideas about Mark Wallinger’s previous work

In Ghost, Wallinger has altered an 18th-century painting, transforming it and giving it a different meaning. Choose an old work of art and alter it to give it a different meaning or to make a different point.

In Ghost and A Real Work of Art, Wallinger has used images of horses. Horses have been and are often associated with class, money, power and success. Consider what you associate with notions of power and success. Why is this? Create you own piece of artwork that comments on these themes.

Consider and discuss the diverse range of influences and ideas contained within Wallinger’s work e.g. Dr Who, biblical stories, 18th-century paintings etc.

Wallinger chose a biblical theme for his statue on the Fourth Plinth to commemorate the Millennium. What would you have placed on the Fourth Plinth and why? Consider Trafalgar Square as the location for the Fourth Plinth. Who would see your artwork and what message would you want to convey to them?

Should artists be political? How can artworks such as State Britain help people discuss politics or current affairs? How political should art galleries be?

Wallinger often creates artworks that refer to things he is passionate about, such as horseracing and Brian Haw’s peace protest. Consider what subjects you are passionate about. What kind of artwork might represent some of these things?

State Britain comments on the Iraq war. Artist Steve McQueen has also recently created a piece of artwork called Queen and Country that commemorates the loss of soldiers’ lives in the Iraq war.

How do these pieces compare with more traditional war memorials? Do you think they help people come to terms with loss or understand it better?

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Y

Magdalen College commissioned Mark Wallinger to create a permanent sculpture to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the College’s founding.

Wallinger’s response to this commission was to create the sculpture Y to be installed within the College grounds. Y is a two-faced sculpture (meaning that it is flat and can be viewed from 2 sides). It has been made from square section steel and has a silvery metallic finish. It has been carefully positioned within the College grounds in a place called Bat Willow Meadow. It faces west – towards most of the College buildings - and reflects the setting sun in the summertime.

Y has been carefully designed to represent a number of ideas and themes:

In Y each branch represents an ancestor going back 17 generations to the founding of Magdalen College in 1458.

The Y shape creates a bifurcating (dividing in two) fork shape. Wallinger believes this represents the branches of a family tree (in this case Magdalen College’s) or the antlers of the deer that live in the College grounds.

The repetition of the Y figure references divining rods (used by people who believe they can detect hidden sources of water). The divining rods are made from some of trees found in Bat Willow Meadow.

The structure of the Y shapes when seen together echoes the architecture of the College. Within the Gothic stonework there are similar carved shapes.

The Y shape pushes out branches reaching into the future whilst the base of the Y is rooted firmly to the ground and draws back to the past.

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The reaching out and drawing back is like the branches of a family tree. Family trees have a trunk from which branches grow out and get smaller as they grow further and further away from the trunk.

Wallinger has used the Golden Ratio to generate his sculpture. The Golden Ratio is the name given to an irrational proportion or infinite decimal. This proportion cannot be expressed as a simple fraction or as a ratio of two whole numbers - it works out approximately to be 8:13. This proportion has been known about since the time of the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. The proportion is thought to possess special visual qualities that make it pleasing to look at and causing it to be in tune with nature.

Some other contexts for the letter or symbol Y are referenced in Wallinger’s work:

The Medieval Roman numeral Y has a value of 150. In the system of Greek numerals the letter upsilion, which closely resembles the letter Y, has a value of 400. Added together 150 + 400 = 550 - the anniversary year of Magdalen College.

The y-axis means the vertical axis in graphs.

Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) is a type of DNA that is only carried by men and is only inherited from their fathers.

Men who share a common paternal ancestor will have virtually the same Y-DNA, even if that male ancestor lived many generations ago. 9 Mark Wallinger Magdalen College, Oxford

Education ideas about Y

As you make your way through Magdalen College to visit Y, look carefully at the architecture, the grounds, the deer park etc. When you view Y consider how the sculpture reflects the College and its history.

Discuss the similarities and differences between Y and Wallinger’s previous works. Consider location, materials, meaning etc.

How do you feel about public art (that is artworks created for display outside of the gallery space)? Consider and discuss your ideas on this.

Find out more about the Golden Ratio especially where it occurs in nature, and how it has been used in architecture and by other artists.

What were your first reactions to seeing Y? How does it relate to its surroundings? How would you describe Y to someone who has not seen it?

Spend time in the College and its grounds and make notes and sketches of things you are interested in or think symbolise the College. If possible, take photographs with a digital camera or phone camera. Using the visual information you have collected, create your own proposal for a piece of artwork to be installed in the College grounds.

Where would you situate your installation and why?

Wallinger has used the visual and proportional qualities of the Y shape to create his artwork. Choose a letter, number or symbol that you feel has pleasing visual qualities. Create a design that uses your chosen letter, number or symbol repeatedly, and experiment with scale and layout.

Y is in part based on the idea of a family tree. How far back can you trace your family tree? Consider the ways in which you could visually represent your family tree.

What questions would you ask Mark Wallinger about Y if you had the opportunity?

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Planning your visit to Magdalen College

Magdalen College Oxford OX1 4AU

Open 12pm - 6pm (23 July 2008 to 3 October 2008) and 1pm - 6pm (4 October 2008 to 23 December 2008) Closed 23 December 2008 to 4 January 2009 inclusive

Charges for entrance to Magdalen College Adults £4 Senior citizens, children and students £3

No charge for Bodleian Library cardholders, residents of Oxford or holders of Oxford Alumni cards. Price includes leaflet, available in English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese.

We welcome visitors to Magdalen College during opening hours. These times may be subject to change and you are advised to check on our website or the notice board on High Street before visiting. All visitors must report to the Lodge on arrival and we request anyone planning to bring a group to contact us in advance on 01865 276000 (telephone) or 01865 276030 (telefax). There is a maximum of 20 people in a group although larger groups may split provided there is a 15-minute interval between visits.

Please remember that throughout the year the College is a place of residence, work and study, and you are asked not to enter staircases, College rooms and areas marked as private. Dogs, except guide dogs, are not allowed in the College. Please do not walk on the grass or picnic in the grounds. Random bag searches may be carried out.

Photography, painting and filming for professional or commercial purposes or for broadcasting use may not be undertaken without the prior consent of the Home Bursar. A fee may be payable in advance of any agreed access and other conditions may apply. The Home Bursar may be contacted on 01865 276050 or at [email protected].

Disabled visitors Magdalen College welcomes visitors with disabilities and we do all we can to ensure that you are able to enjoy the magnificent buildings and grounds. The following information is provided primarily for tourists and other day visitors. However, we do recommend that an able-bodied carer accompanies you and the following advice is based on this assumption. Wheelchair and other disabled visitors who wish to be totally independent should contact us in advance on 01865 276052. We can then give further specific advice to assist in making your visit as complete as possible.

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Toilets For the purposes of schools visits to see Mark Wallinger’s sculpture Y, suitably adapted disabled toilet facilities are primarily available in three locations:

1 - ‘The Gothics’ near the Old Kitchen Bar on the east side of the Cloisters – one unisex. 2 - The Auditorium – one unisex. This toilet is generally only available to those using the Auditorium. 3 - St Swithun’s Quad, staircase VII – one unisex. This toilet can only be accessed with the assistance of a Member of College.

Refreshments The Old Kitchen Bar is level going from the Cloisters and has plenty of room for wheelchairs. However, it is regretted that the riverside terrace is not accessible.

The grounds The quads of the College are all level going and though some areas are cobbled it is possible to manage a wheelchair. Addison’s Walk is a path and uneven in places and tree roots can also be an obstacle. There is no access on the eastern side of Bat Willow Bridge. The entrance to the College (Porters’ Lodge on High Street) is not suited to wheelchair users, but there is a bell push to contact the Porter who can open the adjacent gates to give access. Other entrances (which are normally locked) are better suited to wheelchairs and are usable by those who are accompanied by a Member of College.

Wheelchair availability We have two wheelchairs available by prior arrangement, but we are unable to provide attendants.

Dogs Guide assistance and support dogs are welcome. Although such dogs are highly trained it is important that they do not worry the deer when using the path past the park fence.

Hearing impairment The Porters’ Lodge has a mobile induction system for use by those speaking to the Porter. This could be used elsewhere in College for one-to-one conversations.

Car parking We regret that we are unable to offer parking for visitors. Those who are guests of a Member of the College should make arrangements through their host.

Bat Willow Meadow Works of art, like Mark Wallinger’s sculpture Y, are easily damaged. Before arriving at Magdalen College do advise your group of the following conditions that apply to all visitors:

- Please do not attempt to climb on the sculpture - Please do not scratch or otherwise damage the surface of the sculpture - Please do not pick any flowers or disturb any of the plants in the College grounds - Please stay away from the banks of all rivers and streams

It is imperative that schoolchildren and students are supervised by their teachers and tutors at all times.

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