Sunderland Aquatic Centre’s new sculptures unveiled

Jun 26 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal

A NEW era for public art in Sunderland began yesterdaywith the unveiling of two large sculptures.

The two pieces – giant heads made of steel mesh – go under one title, Looking out, Facing in, and are the work of Frankfurt-based artists Wolfgang Winter and Berthold Hoerbelt.

The £83,000 work has a prominent site between the Stadium of Light and the new Sunderland Aquatic Centre – but the location was determined by what was there before. The mesh heads protect a pair of essential ventilators attached to the underground workings of the old Wearmouth Colliery.

After more than 150 years, the last shift left Wearmouth Colliery in 1993, also bringing to an end eight centuries of deep mining in the Durham coalfield.

The two artists, who met as students and have collaborated ever since on projects around the world, said the Sunderland artwork was inspired by Janus, the Roman god of doorways – and of beginnings and endings.

Often he is portrayed as having two faces looking in opposite directions.

“We wanted something that would be looking forwards to the future but backwards to the history of this place,” said Wolfgang. He said the aim had not been to conceal the two gas vents but to make them integral to the work.