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Giant landscape sculpture goes up for the downs
30 May 1997
10:30am, Friday 30 May 1997
Outside the church in Stanmer Park, Brighton
A giant rabbit will be mown into a field (150 metres by 75 metres) and a huge butterfly will be created using hardboard raised up from the ground.
Renowned landscape artist Simon English has joined forces with Friends of the Earth to create a giant rabbit grazing on the South Downs surrounded by a rare Adonis Blue butterfly. The artwork is being produced for the Downs Day rally, which is being held on Sunday 1 June as part of the campaign to give the South Downs National Park-style protection.
The Adonis Blue is found on the South Downs and needs short-grazed turf to be able to surviveand reproduce successfully. Pristine chalk grassland - once abundant on the South Downs - now covers less than 5 per cent of the area as a result of ploughing and mismanagement.
Simon English has created a number of well-known pieces of landscape art including The Grey Man of Ditchling (John Major) in 1995 and a giant Desmoulin's whorl snail at the Newbury Art Bypass event.
The South Downs rally is taking place on Sunday 1 June from 12 noon (till 7pm) in Stanmer Park near Brighton. Campaigners will be joined by MPs and celebrities.
If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.
Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Dec 2008
