Glastonbury Festival - Art in the Green Fields

Art in the Green Fields

25 Jun 2004

In the Green Fields, you can't really tell the difference between what is an official work Of art, and what is something practical and useful; such as a cafe or a hammock, but just happens to be a work of art as well. The giant Greenpeace whale seems to be a very impressive and arresting artwork, but turns out to be the shower block. There is such a lot of creative expression here that the whole place is just one lovely big art exhibition.

A joyous and man and woman welcome you into the Green Crafts field. They are twenty feet tall, made in wood and willow by Michelle Caine, a Glasto regular for many years, who has been on site for a week working on the piece. For Michelle, as for so many of the people in the Green Fields, creating these works is a genuine labour of love. Overheard: "Are they going to burn it?" These artworks get a lot of admiration, but making things in highly combustible materials does seem to set people off on a bit of a pyromaniacal train of thought.

Without the stages active, it's peaceful and quiet in the Green Fields. The sun is finally out, and everyone is making the most of it. There is a happy mood, and a lot of creation still in progress. In real life on the day before the party you are buying booze and stuffing mess and untidyness under the sofa; in the Green Fields on the day before the party, you are building turtles out of tree branches, and finishing off a smart set of claws for your reincarnated dragon. The dragon is peaceful and friendly this time around, one of his creators, Wendy, says that he is having a bit of a rest and being a quiet earth dragon at the moment. Sometimes he is much fiercer. He - or at least his metal skeleton - has travelled from Ireland, which caused some problems. "In the end," says Wendy, "we put him in the back of the van and everyone took turns to hold his head." Someone passing by asked "Are you going to burn it?"

In amongst the major works are so many smaller but equally lovely things. Many wooden toadstools, some of them to admire, and some of them around tables, and for sitting on. A copper hanging chair shaped like a seashell, glinting in the sun. A pretty willow maze. The Silent Mediation Garden, with a new way to use dreamcatchers - they make an attractive fence. A tall purple forest of fabric foxgloves.

The star of the fields is the giant scorpion sculpted from rescued wood by the Tree Pirates group, which has already made it into the pages of the Daily Mail. Designer A.D. Tree Pirate says (non too seriously) that as the moon will be going into Scorpio during the festival, he thought he would create a sort of alien scorpion-like creature full of mystery and "scorpionic energy". He's sure she's a female, and says she's looking for a good home after the festival. Failing this, he's thinking of setting fire to her on Sunday.

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Art in the Green Fields

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