Glastonbury’s well-known South East Nook is perhaps synonymous with late-night revelry and after-hours raving, however this yr the colourful space is including a recent dynamic to the combination with Dragon’s Tail: a brand new discipline, between Shangri-La and Unfairground, designed to supply a relaxing slice of respite away from the insanity.
At its centre sits a specifically commissioned new work by Somerset-based artist Edgar Phillips: an enormous, 40m mixed-media dragon crafted from metal, printed material and his major medium, stained glass. Shaped of a 6m head, 10m physique sections and 20m wings, it’s a beast of a factor: a huge endeavor of a scale in step with the legendary creature it depicts. Over the course of the day and night time, its lighting will fluctuate like a magical beacon, whereas the sculpture is practical too, with built-in seating for punters wishing to get fairly actually taken below its wing.
(Picture credit score: Edgar Phillips)
‘From one angle you’ll see an entire dragon, and from one other you’ll see a Loch Ness Monster trundling by means of the earth. The concept is it may be many issues,’ explains Phillips of the design. ‘The top is the characteristic piece within the centre, which I needed to have the ability to be used wherever on the competition, even when issues change on this discipline. It’s basically a dragon head-shaped greenhouse, glazed with superbly colored stained glass that’s iridescent and mouth-blown, and I’ve chucked in some Victorian jewels from my assortment of vintage glass.’
Realised with the assistance of native steel fabrication crew Aller Engineering, The Dragon has been a real labour of affection, crafted over 11 weeks of up-to-16 hour days. A life-long stained glass artist who accomplished his apprenticeship aged 16 and has since made work for Hollywood royalty together with Elizabeth Taylor, Al Pacino and Carrie Fisher, it represents his most bold endeavor to this point.
(Picture credit score: Edgar Phillips)
Unsurprisingly for a large-scale glass work in a hedonistic competition setting, the challenges have primarily lain in guaranteeing its sturdiness and security. ‘The metal must be fastened to the bottom and stand nicely. If slightly little bit of glass will get damaged it’s not the top of the world, but when individuals get over-exuberant there must be a restrict,’ he explains. Nevertheless, Phillips has an extended historical past with Glastonbury and the Eavis household at its helm, which has helped put together him for this hefty endeavour.
His first work for the competition was a pair of rainbow-coloured stained-glass wings referred to as the Wings of the West, commissioned by Emily Eavis after she noticed an identical, red-winged piece made by Phillips following a interval of deep private trauma. In a visible manifestation of overcome adversity, Glastonbury has additionally commissioned a pair of white wings from the artist; each of which have ‘developed their very own little tradition’ on the Worthy Farm website.
For Phillips, the wonder is in bringing this dramatic and infrequently inaccessible artwork kind to as many individuals as potential. ‘For me, it’s concerning the mild. No matter stained glass window you create might be a thousand various things each day due to the motion of sunshine and the temper and the change. That’s why I really like working with it,’ he says. ‘It’s such excessive artwork, particularly in hand-painted, kiln-fired stained glass, that it’s nearly a disgrace that it’s so excessive up and lofty. I really like the concept of bringing it all the way down to earth.’
Supply: Wallpaper
