Question

Why is Gormley so focussed on the human form and his own body in particular?

Answer 1

Answer: Gormley is so focussed on the human form and his own body in particular because he wants to know what is the nature of the space a human being inhabits.

Explanation: Over the years Gormley has expanded into casting other people and large community projects. He has been recognised with the 1994 Turner Prize and an OBE and works such as Field, with its thousands of tiny clay figures staring so affectingly at the viewer, and his monumental Angel of the North have become some of the best-known contemporary art of the last few decades. Gormley's latest work to be shown in the UK, Another Place, again draws on his own body for the 100 cast-iron figures, made from 17 slightly different moulds, that will face the open sea for 3km either side of the tideline on Crosby Beach on Merseyside. The work deals with the theme of migration as the figures look out at a new horizon, but the complex administrative arrangements in staging it - he has had to come to an accommodation with a "horrendous variety of authorities", including the coastguards, the RSPB and various local government agencies - has also raised interesting questions.