Eye in Stone

Anish Kapoor's sculpture occupies an area somewhere between visual reality and the sensory experiences that help us define our existence in the world, both as observing and as physically participating in it. The sculpture also offers an opportunity for physical contact. We can touch its surfaces with our hands, and even step inside it. Despite the sculpture's powerful presence, we sense that its meaning lies beyond the physical reality. It resides somewhere in that region of our experiences that cannot be put into words. The words can only describe the physical unfolding of the sculpture.

This experience is further reinforced by the sculpture's being placed in a setting that is reminiscent of an archetypal primordial landscape, which is nevertheless bound to local history, with Viking graves nearby. The feeling of timelessness or suspense is broken by the shifts of the tide. When the water is at its highpoint, it enters into the sculpture and into the space with polished surfaces that has been created within the stone. These silken-smooth surfaces inside the otherwise naturally rough mass of rock creates a feeling of security that affords a moment of reflection.

Maaretta Jaukkuri