16 THE ART OBSERVER July 2010 sculpture echoing the shape of the plateau but bearing the significance of the “Cells of Life” which is the title of this wonderful landscape sculpture by Charles Jencks.   Further along, walking through the wild and wooded parkland, you intermittently come across one sculpture after another; some nestling amongst the trees, such as “Weeping Girls” by Laura Ford. These are life-size figures of little girls wearing smock dresses, heads bowed with faces covered by flowing hair. There are four of them, all appear to be distressed and weeping. They are not standing together, instead they are separated by approximately thirty yards between them, as if they have been quarrelling and have each gone off to find a place of solitude to weep in private. These figures have been hand carved from waxes, cast in bronze which has been patinated and painted in a pale, rather ghostly, colour. By Lucinda Baker IN EDINBURGH,  yet a world away from the constant activity of that vibrant city, lies a mes- merizing and awesome landscape which, if visited on a quiet day, gives one the feeling of being on a different planet. Its creators, Nicky and  Robert Wilson bought Bonnington House, and the 80 acres of land surrounding it in 1999. They set about transforming the environment into an extraordinary sculpture park. This is Jupiter Artland. Nicky and Robert Wilson have overwhelmingly succeeded in creating “an environment that nurtures the art and draws the underlying power of the land into a series of intense spaces”, which, in their own words, is what they set out to do. The elaborate gates, studded with silver sputniks, marks the entrance to this unique place. The beautiful, winding driveway, lined with colourful rhododen- drons and a vast variety of trees and shrubs, leads you to a jaw-dropping sight that com- Leaving the weeping girls in their sheltered and secret place and moving into the open, by contrast, on a hill in an open space with the sky as a backdrop is “Firmament” by Antony Gormley. This is a huge struc- ture made up of 1170 corten steel elements and 1019 steel balls welded together to repre- sent a crouching figure. There are three pieces by Andy Goldsworthy, one of which plays with the emotions. It is called “Stone House, Bonnington”. As its title suggests, it is a stone house set in the wooded land- scape. A stone house would nor- mally be regarded as a place of refuge and security. Imagine, then, entering this house to find only nature, in a somewhat aggressive state, completely unwelcoming with boulders of earth and rock where you would expect to find an even surface where you could stand or lie quite safely. Within this house you would stand or lie at your peril! The contrast of the hostile ground compared with the smooth finished, wood-lined roof is quite startling. With this powerful piece, Goldsworthy flips ones expectations upside down and leaves one feeling unnerved and emotionally uncomfortable. There are also pieces by Anish Kapoor and the late Ian Hamilton Finlay, alongside younger, newer artists. All the sculptures and installations are ‘at one’ with the landscape and the environment. Each offers an element of surprise and, simulta- neously, belonging. There is not the space here to describe each piece. This article serves to give you a flavour of Jupiter Artland, and it is better to leave you some surprises. Go and experi- ence this wonderful place. It is well worth the drive to Edinburgh. Visits have to be booked in advance. Tel. 01506 889900 Email: Justine@jupiterartland.org Jupiter Artland, Nr Wilkieston, Edinburgh EH27 8BB pletely takes you a-back. A sculpted landscape lies before you, made up of eight terraced landforms that surround four lakes and a flat parterre for sculpture exhibits. The lakes are divided by a causeway connecting the landforms, or Life Mounds. You can walk along the immaculate spiraling terraces of turf covered earth to the top of each mound where you discover a flat Jupiter Artland-In a World of Its Own Weeping Girls by Laura Ford Firmament by Antony Gormley Life Mounds by Charles Jencks Stone House, Bonnington by Andy Goldsworthy