Plato's Lair by Peter Hanmer at Cheeseburn

Plato's Lair by Peter Hanmer is one of the delights currently being exhibited at Cheeseburn, Northumberland. Peter won the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of The Year award 2017 with his proposal for Plato's Lair. Housed in the potting shed in the beautiful grounds of Cheeseburn Grange House and Gardens. The work is heavily influenced by Plato’s story The Allegory of the Cave featured in Plato’s seminal work The Republic.

"Plato asks us to imagine prisoners inside a cave, their legs and necks shackled. They can only look at the wall in front of them where projected images are made by puppets and the objects behind them; they can't see these because they cannot turn around, the shadows on the wall are the prisoners only reality.

A prisoner who manages to escape from his chains discovers that it is the puppets and fire that are casting the shadows and that their reality is an illusion. Once out of the cave the prisoners eyes adjust to the sunlight and see reality for what it really is, including plants, animals, the sky and most importantly the sun, which for Plato represents enlightenment. The now free prisoner returns to the Cave to tell his fellow prisoners what he has sees."




There are similarities when viewing the work at Cheeseburn. One passes through the fabric barrier into a dark space. Steps down lead to the grotto-like cavern populated with 30-40 little figures. As your eyes slowly begin to adapt to the lighting conditions, more details are revealed; non-human characters with beaks are engaged in a multitude of activities.




Peter has incorporated some of the objects found within the shed into the narrative that he constructs. For example, an ancient lawnmower is used to project images onto a screen.



The figures belong in the potting shed, it is their world, and we are invited into it.

The installation is open to the public at the August Bank holiday weekend (25th, 26th, 27th August) and the first weekend in September (1st and 2nd September). Opening times are 11am-4pm. For more information visit

http://cheeseburn.com/

https://www.peterhanmer.com/

All images courtesy of Paul Stephenson

Cheeseburn Open Weekend

This Bank Holiday weekend I will be working at Cheeseburn for their open weekend. 

Visiting times are 11am-4pm on 25th, 26th and 27th August

For more information visit http://cheeseburn.com/

Here is a quick overview of what is to be seen in addition to the many permanent sculptures that are situated within the grounds of Cheeseburn Grange.

Joseph Hillier

PAUSE/PLAY

Stables Gallery

The Gillain Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year 2017
Peter Hanmer
‘Plato’s Lair’
Potting shed in the Walled Garden at Cheeseburn

Qi Yafeng

Video and Sound work in the chapel

Sculptures in the grounds of Cheeseburn Grange

Peter Hanmer exhibits as part of Newcastle University Summer Exhibition

Blending the uncanny and fantastical, Peter creates largely sculptural works seeking to offer an explorative often satirical perspective on themes ranging from the ideological to the environmental. 

His figurative works are designed to provoke the senses and the mind, while resisting easy interpretation. 

Offering what the literary theorist Terry Eagleton calls ‘the great humanist function of culture;’ the cultural critique.

Newcastle University MFA Summer Exhibition - Peter Hanmer

Blending the uncanny and fantastical, Peter creates largely sculptural works seeking to offer an explorative often satirical perspective on themes ranging from the ideological to the environmental.



His figurative works are designed to provoke the senses and the mind, while resisting easy interpretation. Offering what the literary theorist Terry Eagleton calls ‘the great humanist function of culture;’ the cultural critique.





http://www.peterhanmer.com/