Sonnart,
Firstly,
I must admit that your spat with Less did make me laugh and, may I say, I think you got off very lightly indeed. I can easily appreciate the enthusiasm of youth, I used to be young myself. I can also appreciate the sense of frustration that comes when an idea is not appreciated or even dismissed without the courtesy of consideration. It seems harsh and unfair, and it is. That is what life is about. Anyone who promised you that it might be anything different was lying to you.
Your reaction to Less's critique of your work was uncalled for, strident, ungracious and petulant. The practise of Art as a profession will require far greater sacrifice from you than has hitherto been required and during the course of your life you will have to accept much sterner criticism. You are young and I think that Less realises this, and it is for this reason that you got off so lightly (a PM with a note of apology might not go amiss.).
That having been said, Now to the 'art'. Let me begin by declaring that what I know of your work is what I have seen posted in this thread. On that basis, it seems to me that you have still a long, long way to go. And it also seems, from what you have written, that you are anything but certain of the path you may choose to take once your degree studies are completed. For this reason, if for no other, I would advise that you confine your current cutout project to to your sketchbook. Leave it to mature for a few years and maybe you can revisit it when you have a little more of life under your belt; after all, if an idea contains anything that is worthwhile or valuable a little maturity can only improve it.
I wonder why it is that so many people want to use the Coppice as the location for their "art"?
As has been commented upon, the people of Accrington have seen several attempts to place sculpture on the coppice and I must say that I cannot see the point of dotting it with tired and hackneyed bits and pieces, however well intentioned or eco-friendly.
The thing that I think most people from outside Accrington fail to grasp is that the Coppice holds a special place within the hearts and minds of the people of Accrington. It is witness not only to their lives but to their history as a community. I recall that during the time I spent away from Accrington as a student one of the first sights to greet me and give me the understanding that I was 'home' was the sight of the Coppice looming high above the town. I am sure that feeling is familiar to many of the people of Accrington of this and preceding generations. To change it, to mark it, to scar it is, for many, tantamount to sacrilege.
Accrington cannot boast of much in the way of public art; our Victorian forebears had much more pressing matters to concern themselves with and our current council would not recognise art if it jumped up and bought them an icecream. So, for many, the Coppice assumes, among its many other roles, the role of Artwork. It is as much the work of nature as it is of human hand. It changes its appearance as the season progress. It is a monument to our foolishness and our brilliance and it is also a memorial of our dead. It is our lookout and also our guardian. It speaks to us of the long days of summers past, of childhood play and evenings of courtship, of hard graft and bitter winters. It speaks also of the obdurate stubborness of the people of Accrington. Their fortitude in the face of unbearable loss and their hopes for the future. They don't really need Sculpture or earthworks to explain that to them, if indeed it were ever possible.
Don't be disheartened that people don't want to see it used for anything other than what it is. It is not really you or your ideas they are rejecting so much as protecting what is to us, the people of Accrington, a place, a sight, an experience of incalculable value and significance.
