Bouncy Stonehenge

Who doesn't love a bouncy castle?

This art piece has stuck in my mind since I saw a video of it online. Artist Jeremy Deller has fused "bouncy technology" with perhaps the world's original castle: Stonehenge. It's an inflatable version of Stonehenge that you can jump around on! Aside from looking like a lot of fun, it seems like something Spinal Tap would have in the parking lot of their reunion tour. On another note, I think it goes a long way towards demystifying the original structure itself in that it allows visitors to play within the architectural space. Having never visited Stonehenge, I don't know much about what it's like to be in the presence of these stones. I imagine a lot of tourists visiting the original Stonehenge have been conditioned to expect some kind of druid-like transcendence to wash over them as they stand in sight of the giant monoliths... Well, there's a fine line between druid-like transcendence and pretension. Just in case you wondered, the title of the piece is "Sacrilege." This piece reminds us that the coolest thing about Stonehenge is that no one really knows what this monument was used for and that it's a wonderful mystery to consider how the giant stones were actually put together. I don't mean to downplay the solemnity of what is perhaps the UK's most important architectural monument, but let's not forget that "the ancients" probably liked to have fun too. Check out the videos below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOSKkLJdjfA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17777997

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr7blOccbO4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=beYLiDRvdvQ

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/apr/20/jeremy-deller-inflatable-stonehenge-glasgow