Interesting, but is it art?

It may look like a collection of metal tubes arranged in a giant semi-circle, but this is art darling.

Actually there is more to this sculpture by Luke Jerram than meets the eye, but to find out what that is, you have to get right up close.

Each one of the tubes is hollow. They have been placed around the structure to catch the wind and if you put your ear against them you can here a faint humming, it’s quite eerie.

As each of the tubes is a different length they all carry a different sound.

The piece, in Canada Square Park, Canary Wharf, is called Aeolus - after the ruler of the four winds in Greek mythology.

Its creator describes it as a “an acoustic and optical pavilion designed to make audible the silent shifting patterns of the wind and to visually amplify the ever changing sky”.

That’s a giant wind instrument to you and me.

You’ve got to love these arty types, really you do, they get so wrapped up in their own hype.

He describes the sculpture as a" giant aeolian harp designed to resonate and sing with the wind without any electrical power or amplification".

“Aeolus sonifies the three dimensional landscape of wind, using a web of aeolian harp strings," he adds. 

“The aim is for the public to be able to visualise this shifting wind map by interpreting the sound around them.”

If you say so.

He says the strings are like cats’ whiskers which vibrate “registering the shifting landscape of wind around the artwork to be heard by visitors”.

Lovely.

But that’s not all, there is another dimension to the aeolian harp, it is also an “optical pavilion”.

Jerram says: “Beneath the arch a viewer can look out through a field of 310 internally polished stainless steel tubes simultaneously, each of which draws the landscape of light through the structure whilst humming at a series of low frequencies. 

“These light pipes act to frame, invert and magnify the landscape around the pavilion enabling the viewer to contemplate an ever changing landscape of light.

“As the clouds and sun move across the sky throughout the day, the visual experience for the public will dramatically alter minute by minute, hour by hour.”

Ok, look, let’s be realistic, it did catch my eye as I was on my way through Canary Wharf, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken a picture.

And it was fun for a couple of minutes to listen to the sound of the wind through the tubes.

I also appreciate the work that has gone into making it and no way want to detract from the fact it is an interesting piece of art.

But I have always found it difficult to keep a straight face when people gush over modern art.

To me a piece of rolled up newspaper is just that.

And an unmade bed? If that’s art I’ve got a priceless masterpiece upstairs you can come and have a look at for a tenner.

As far as pieces of modern art go this is slightly more worthy to bear the description than some that drum up huge hype.

An interesting sculpture of a giant tubular wind/ string instrument yes, but deep and meaningful? What do I know?