What better place for a crazy golf course than the seaside? In this year of record breaking rainfall, what better place to play than indoors? And in this year of great British sport, when better to play!
Having spent years researching and celebrating the unique environment in which Grundy finds itself, we thought we’d go one better and join in! We’ve teamed up with London-based American artist Doug Fishbone and the Nova Festival of Arts and Music to host Doug Fishbone and Friends Adventureland Golf for this summer and autumn.
Each of the nine holes has been designed by some of the UK’s most celebrated artists and includes: Jake and Dinos Chapman, David Shrigley, Gary Webb, Brian Griffiths, Jonathan Allen, Pete Fowler, Ian Monroe, Zatorski and Zatorski, and Doug Fishbone himself.
These artist-designed holes range from statements on politics and life and death, to cheeky and fun challenges, making this very much a crazy golf course with a difference.
The course begins with David Shrigley’s hand written statements offering advice and guidance on your way round the course: “Respect Your Opponent”, “You Might Be Stupid”, “Golf Isn’t Boring”.
While Gary Webb’s builder’s bum, Pete Fowler’s green monster, and Brian Griffiths’s desert island each contain something of the essence of the British seaside, Jonathan Allen’s boarded up library points to the irreplaceable loss of cultural services across the country through the current austerity measures we face. A similar vein is followed by Ian Monroe as he highlights the uncertainty of European economies.
Jake and Dinos Chapman, and Doug Fishbone have created replicas of two dictators for the course. The Chapman’s saluting Adolf Hitler places the powerful image of the Nazi regime within the context of holiday fun and in doing so makes reference to the British wartime spirit of making humour at the fuehrer’s expense. Doug Fishbone has recreated the toppling of the massive Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square, Baghdad, in 2003, an image that came to define the Iraqi war.
And finally – and here the end really is the end – the course concludes with Zatorski and Zatorski’s black mausoleum-like slabs. Once you’ve succeeded in getting the ball in the hole you’ve realized your final challenge and the ball is irretrievable. Your game is over!
If you’re looking for a new golf challenge, or really want to engage in an exhibition, come and join us for a round! It’s fun, irreverent and thought provoking.
Installation images can be seen here.
Doug Fishbone and Friends Adventureland Golf was commissioned by Nova Festival of Arts and Music 2012, with donations presented to ActionAid’s Haiti earthquake appeal. Donations during this Grundy showing will go towards the gallery’s future programme.