鈥淟ots of people working together to have fun and make something: you don鈥檛 see that enough anymore鈥 This is what a passer by was noted saying on the 1st of January 2009 as he watched the Hornsea scout group building a walkway to the sea in the style of a particular artist.
What the Scouts did, under the supervision of one of the newest young leaders of the group Hannah Page, was to create a winding path stretching from right up the beach all the way down, nearly meeting the sea. This feat involved many scouts and explorer scouts as well as several of the leaders all working together and creating this piece of temporary art.
Everyone was split into different groups and these groups were assigned to collecting different coloured rocks and stones for example some were collecting white stones while others were collecting orange, yellow, grey, black and all other colours. Each colour was piled up, then following a pattern that Hannah had drawn in the sand each colour was placed on its own individual line. This activity required much organisation and leadership on the part of Hannah and also dedication and teamwork from the rest of the group.
The artists create their masterwork
The artist that the piece was inspired by is called Andy Goldsworth, who is a British photographer and environmentalist but is best known for his land art and site specific sculpture. What is so unique and brilliant about his work is that it is anything but permanent.
It is made purely from rocks, leaves and other natural resources, the only evidence of its existence after the tide comes in or the wind blows it away are the photographs he has taken, which is why photography is such a necessary tool for his work. Looking at some images of Goldsworthy鈥檚 and then what the scout group has created you can see the resemblance.
The pathway takes shape
The finished product of the New Year鈥檚 road took the combined efforts of everyone there over an hour, which was an incredibly short time if you think that all the different stones were scavenged from the beach. There were no external materials brought in the only mediums used were found in the immediate environment.听 Then they were piled up and only after that did the production of the art piece commence.
All ages participated, even toddlers. And, as I was amongst the group taking part myself, I can say first hand that there was not one person there who did not look as if they weren鈥檛 having a very enjoyable New Years Day.
There was drinking chocolate, hot-dogs and biscuits for everyone afterwards so everyone definitely got a reward for their hard work.
Hornsea Scouts have shown that community still exists and you can do something just for the fun of doing it, even if the tide does clear any evidence of it only a few hours later.
