The figures are small enough to hold in a hand. Together, seated across the steps, they become a crowd. Nele Azevedo’s Birmingham installation used that shift in scale to create a public moment of remembrance.
Many small figures, one shared space
The 2014 installation marked the centenary of the beginning of the First World War. The archive describes 5,000 ice figures placed in Chamberlain Square, with members of the public participating. Rather than a single monumental hero, the work offered many similar human forms.
Melting was part of the artwork’s meaning. The figures changed while people watched, making time and disappearance visible. The temporary material gave the gathering a different character from a permanent stone memorial.
Keep separate installations in their own settings
Azevedo used ice figures in other cities and contexts too. Images from those projects should not all be captioned as Birmingham or as the same commemoration. Compare this participatory work with Sonja Hinrichsen’s snow drawings, then explore the everyday creativity of Semyon Bukharin’s schoolyard snow art.
Three installations, three contexts
The original gallery begins with Birmingham’s 2014 First World War centenary installation, described as five thousand small ice figures placed on the steps of Chamberlain Square. Participation was part of the work: people positioned figures and then watched the material change.
The later photographs belong to other installations, including Berlin in 2009 and Belfast in 2012. They should not all be captioned as the Birmingham event. Keeping the places and dates separate shows how Azevedo’s repeated use of a small melting figure can carry different associations.
A memorial that does not remain intact
The figures are recognisable individually, but their repetition creates the scale of the work. Melting changes that balance as some forms disappear sooner than others. The photograph preserves a stage in the process; the temporary nature is part of the artwork rather than evidence that the monument failed to last.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Nele Azevedo
- Birmingham Mail
- Viral Nova
- 10 Literally Cool Things Made From Ice And Snow
- Really Cool Music: Creative Norwegian Musician Creates Ice Instruments
- This Is The Most Amazing Idea: Record Disk Made Out Of Ice!
- Top 10 Coolest Snow Buildings
- Sonja Hinrichsen’s snow drawings
- Semyon Bukharin’s schoolyard snow art
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