Shrouds of the Somme

[hazelclark]

Replied to your message Biffo.  Sorry to be so cryptic if that’s what it was.

H.C.

[BIFFO]

1 hour ago, Steven Broomfield said:

BIFFO: I assume you're on my side in this argument. At least sort of.

Steve no I didn't see the shrouds pity really as we are coming to Exeter visiting my wife's aunt start December, probably spend all my money at Topsham again,in this instance im behind you all the way that's in a manly way NOT like men with lipstick behind you all the way way ??

not wanting to start wwiii I thought the shrouds haunting ok maybe the place wasn't right but to see lots of names doesn't really convey much, even tho some of the men I have researched , when you go to a large cemetery it makes you think,once I went to cabin hill in a snow storm off the beaten track,saw how few were buried there all the headstones  Aussies  and thought of the poor bu+++ out there miles from home ,that brought it home to me, maybe the chap wanted you to get the impression of loss and stupidity of it all ,shrouds instead of headstones,in another post on the forum I don't really see how the war could have been avoided delayed a bit but would in my opinion still have happened. Some people rave about Harry Patch me I`lI will keep my powder dry but when I hear him say both sides sat at a table and worked it out, so why OH why couldn't they have done that before war started,nice Idea Harry but how can you talk to a fanatic ? 

better get me goat(well I am welsh) 

[RaySearching]

1 hour ago, Steven Broomfield said:

BIFFO: I assume you're on my side in this argument. At least sort of.

 

 

Argument ?

I thought this was a discussion  forum

 

Difference of opinion maybe

[depaor01]

This thread made me look up the LLT, curious as to the appropriateness and accuracy of the title of the work described. There were no shrouds at the Somme and elsewhere. What remained of the poor unfortunate was apparently scooped up into a canvas sheet if I understand correctly. 

I have no strong opinions about the artist or the work, but it seems to me historically inaccurate. 

Dave

[Moonraker]

Just seen

 

this item

 

on ITV News

 

Can't say I'm keen on the idea when it comes to individual items, but laid out en masse they do make an impressive sight.

 

Moonraker

[bts1970]

Have seen them previously in Bristol 2016........ my first thoughts were probably a shock factor followed by an appreciation as to what he was trying to convey.

 

I think that the sea of poppies (London ceramics) were overwhelming in their number ...... but because of the sheer scale hard to comprehend.

 

This installation i find easier for the viewer to stand and see scale ........ i don`t think this is about primarily making money from the artist who appears to have become more immersed as it has gone on, but if he is taking a profit fair play to him. I think originally it was simply July 1st casualties that formed the installation it has since grown to this.

 

How many celebrity authors have taken money the last 4 years without a donating to service charities without a word from this forum?.

 

Anything that promotes the scarifice & in this case the sheer scale of lost boys gets a big tick from myself.

 

 

[Steven Broomfield]

I'm with bts on this.

 

Out of interest, anyone know how much Michael Morpurgo has banked in the past couple of years?

[seaJane]

To be fair to him, a good proportion probably goes towards running this: 

https://farmsforcitychildren.org

[keithfazzani]

Well to join the discussion I saw them yesterday. I was with a group who wished to see them. My role was to act as guide on the journey there and back and to describe/explain the Battle of the Somme. A rather strange first for me, to guide a battlefield tour without being on the Battlefield. 

 

I think that for many of the group they found the shrouds moving, especially those, and there were several, who had lost diatant relatives on the Somme. We returned via the Cenotaph and finished at the IWM. I think the combination meant something to those who have never visited the battlefields and several expressed their wish to do so after the day. 

 

My own view was that the shrouds added little to my feelings about the Somme and if asked outright I would say I personally disliked them. I certainly found them disturbing, but not perhaps in the way their creator had in mind.