Aldgate Square has some new residents — half human half snail.
This bizarre gathering of anthropomorphic molluscs is the work of artist Jocelyn McGregor. It’s the first installation in a new public sculpture programme called the Aldgate Square Commission. A second piece by Emii Alrai will replace it next year.
Called Earthling, McGregor's installation features a group of gastropods lounging around on a heap of stones. Each one has a human limb in place of the usual slimy body. The sculpture, we're told, "acts like a fantastical magnifying glass to explore interconnections between the synthetic and organic worlds in urban spaces, with the human body as the conduit between the two".
It's a striking piece that will have passers-by slowing to a snail's pace to admire the odd combination. Kids will be all over the unlikely human-snail hybrids.
Let's just hope their aren't any giant thrushes lurking in those trees.
