On the Gorilla Trail

Image - Phil Longwell/Shape Collage - Click to enlarge

2 SEP UPDATE: 54 GORILLAS IN 6 MINS! - THE VIDEO - ADDED TO THE END OF THIS POST


 

This is one of those posts which is related to neither the personal nor the professional.  It is just something I did one day while waiting for my work visa for China to arrive. (4 Sep - update:) It now includes a postscript, which is a video I made with my nephew, Luke, one week later.

On Bank Holiday Monday - 26 August - I visited Norwich, in my home county of Norfolk.  I wanted to complete the summer GoGoGorillas trail.   Having heard about and read much about a load of painted gorillas being placed around the city as part of a fundraising campaign, I thought I would see how long it would take me to find every single one of the 54 decorated apes.  I used a downloaded copy of the official trail map and went by foot, starting in the centre, at Castle Meadow.  I chose this starting point because (a) it was where the bus dropped me off and (b) it was the location of one of two gorillas that my friend, Hannah Nelson, had painted - see photo - earlier this year.

Hannah Nelson with 'Catch Me If You Can'

The whole thing had been organised/managed by Wild In Art - here - on behalf of two charities, Break - here - a charity involved in supporting children, young children and families across East Anglia, and the Born Free Foundation - here - the international wildlife charity, devoted to compassionate conservation and animal welfare.  Local businesses came forward and offered sponsorship and, in some cases, a temporary home for some of the gorillas.  For more information visit the dedicated GoGoGorillas site - here - and a reflective blog chronicling the story, written by Break's communications and marketing officer, Liz Richards - here.

It is not the only project that Wild In Art has orchestrated this summer - with four other projects going on, including 'Go Rhinos' in Southampton and a 'Gromit Unleashed' trail featuring 80 painted Gromits in Bristol.  The GoGoGorillas trail was launched back in June outside the Odeon Cinema in Riverside - here - where King Kong is still, currently perched on top of a six-metre tall Empire State Building.

'King Kong' by 3D Leisure/X-Leisure

I gave myself around three hours to complete the trail, once I had been dropped off at Castle Meadow, at 11.30am, and before another Break-organised event, the Norwich Duck Race, 'quacked off' at 3pm.  In the end, that's exactly how long it took, allowing for a quick bite to eat and a coffee, which I carried and spilled some of the way, along with my camera.  Wisely, I had drawn a rough route plan, as I had no pen with me to check off the Gorillas as I went.  I began at the Castle and worked through the city centre, past a canary adorned 'Gareth' and Stephen Fry adorned 'Boris' near the market place. Into The Forum, which contained three, before heading west to locate 'Horatio' hidden inside St John the Baptist cathedral. I continued via 'Guy' and 'Woolstan', at Intu Chapelfield Shopping Centre. Then it was over to 'Mr Carrow' at the Norwich City Football ground in the south-east, then north along riverside road for a couple more, before checking off a number in and around the cathedral.  Then up to find 'Archie the Air Ambulance' outside the Puppet Theatre and a sequestered 'Bling Kong', located off Barrack Street.  I finished, at 2.30pm,  with 'Earnest', opposite the Playhouse, St George's Street, the starting point of the Duck Race.  54 Gorillas, check!  I think.

'Sea Monkey' by Catriona Finlayson

They were all reasonably straightforward to find.  I am fairly familiar with the Norwich streets and they are quite large after all.  They were meant to be found, not secretly hidden.  Nonetheless, I almost bypassed 'Sea Monkey' off Pullis Ferry, while 'Norvic' and 'Juno' initially appeared camouflaged at Norwich Cathedral. I stumbled across Alan, a gorilla based on fictional radio DJ, Alan Partridge, soon after leaving the Cathedral and heading into the area of Tombland.  Phil and Sam Daniels' spot-on artistic work had been signed by the 'star' on the day that the movie, Alan Partridge: Alan Papa, had premièred at Anglia Square.  It was tucked inside of AbbotFox, its sponsor and was the only ape located safely behind glass.  A number of the exhibits had reportedly been slightly damaged, despite the clear warnings on each plinth to treat them with respect.  

Some gorillas were more aesthetically  pleasing on the eye than others.  Some were genius creations with movie references - such as 'Iron Ape', 'Bling Kong', 'The Ape'd Crusader' and 'Optimus Primate'.  Others were more pastorally decorative, such as 'A Walk On The Wildside', 'Jungle Jenny', 'Lilly Gorilly' and the flowery 'Hattie' outside John Lewis. Some, however, which I won't name, were simply dull or messy and somewhat confused creations.  Besides 'Alan', a couple of others were based on real people - the 2012 Tour-de-France winner, 'Bradley Wiggins', and 'Freddie Mercury'.  The latter, 'Freddie Radio GoGo Gorilla', located outside the forum, had to be reworked when the Mercury estate took offence to the characterisation of the former Queen singer as an ape, with its exaggerated buck-teeth.  It's a shame, because it had lost much of its impact and, as such, was the only one which I deliberately photographed from the back. 

'Freddie 'Radio GoGo' Gorilla' by Mik Richardson

All in all, it was a grand day out (oops, maybe that should have been reserved that for the 'Gromit trail'). I took solace in the fact that I was not the only adult, without a child, out on the streets of Norwich, map in hand.  Although the trail would clearly appeal to some children, and I saw many enjoying the hunt, younger ones would probably struggle to get round to see all 54 unaided. I suspect many ended up, after a while, grumpily following their parents who were keener to tick them off their list.   

Limited edition packs of playing cards - here - have been produced are still available but selling fact.  54 gorillas = 52 cards + 2 jokers (including 'Alan'). Meanwhile, an auction, hosted by Break patron, Jake Humphrey, which aims to raise further funds for the charities, takes place on 3 October at The Forum. 

Some more examples from the trail are shown below - or scroll down further to watch the video recorded one week later:

'Gareth' by Gillian Jeffery

'Boris' by Jenny Leonard

'Walk on the Wild Side' by Pat Kennewell

'Earnest' by Suzi Ovens

'Optimus Primate' by Ross White/Rory Davis

'Iron Ape' by Martin Wall

'Skull Island' by Beau Townsend and Tansy Bouttell

'Alan' by Phil and Sam Daniels

'Norvic' by Norwich School Design Department

'Bling Kong' by East Coast Collective

with 'Jungle Jenny' - by Jenny Leonard

POSTSCRIPT: DON'T BLINK! 54 GORILLAS IN 6 MINS! - THE VIDEO

On 2 September, one week later, I returned with my nephew, Luke, to do the gorilla trail once more.  He worked out the best route. This time I took my camcorder.  We hit on the idea of seeing if, instead of taking 3 or more hours, we could complete the whole trail in 5-6 minutes.  The video was, subsequently, picked up on by the regional newspaper, the Eastern Daily Press.  Here is the result:-

In the Press - link to article here

Luke and 'The Ape'd Crusader' by Jenny Leonard and Sally Adams

Luke filming me next to 'Killing Fields' by Hannah Nelson