We were at the top of the hill having walked to the ‘temple’ at the top of the waterfall at Chatsworth that was man made using steps from different widths. The idea was to head further up the hill to find the lake that was the source of water for the very tall fountain in front of Chatsworth House. However we were distracted when we met another guy who told us about this great sculpture that was just down the hill to the left. He said it was a large ball that filled up with water and then opened up. We went down the hill to find it and we had almost given up, until we finally found it. It was even better than we had imagined, and was a lovely surprise. When we arrived there were a few other people already sitting on a bench who must have been waiting for some time for the object to fill up and open.
We were very fortunate, because no sooner had we arrived to the sculpture and then started to activate. We were puzzled though by what happened first. The water started falling down straight from the middle of the object. Actually I could not help it but images of cows and dogs doing their business on the grass came flashing into my head! At first glance the large sculpture looked to me like a pomegranite! When I inspected the website for Chatsworth House I discovered it is actually called ‘Revelation’ and the artist is Angela Conner.
I had thought the pomegranate was a permanent feature but it appears that it may be only temporary, and may in fact be one of the sculptures forming part of the Sotherby’s exhibition going up for auction later this month.
Alice Letts 