HTSI editor’s letter: a secret art trail, a Scandi silo and a Sinner

As someone who loves both a creepy stone circle and a robust ramble through a field, I was ridiculously excited to discover that, for the past 10 years, the artist Andy Goldsworthy has been working on an odyssey through the North York Moors national park. Commissioned by telecoms tycoon and philanthropist David Ross to mark his 50th birthday, Hanging Stones is a monumental land art project that traverses six miles of moorland in Rosedale, reimagining 10 buildings as installations inspired by the shapes, forms and materials of the natural world. In an exclusive reveal for HTSI, James Reginato has explored nine of these interactions, while photographer Julian Broad has taken pictures along the route. The project has been deliberately shrouded in opacity; both Ross and Goldsworthy are keen to preserve a sense of mystery around the project. We’ve kept our captions vague about precise locations, and we have been persuaded to show only an edited selection of the whole.

I can think of few things more thrilling than the prospect of a secret art trail. Especially when the installations are so evocative, so surprising, and so ambitious in their scale. In some ways Hanging Stones is the epitome of what I consider modern luxury: a multisensory experience that cannot be replicated through any other means. Visitor registration is now open: I’ll see you with my map and keys…

At 22, Jannik Sinner is poised to become the biggest player in the game

There’s no secret about the emerging star of tennis. Our cover story features Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old player now enjoying an extraordinary run of wins. The lofty redhead from South Tyrol first surged into the public consciousness when he came back from a two-set disadvantage to win his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne in January. He has since powered through a series of other competitions and is currently ranked the world number two. For HTSI, we interviewed the player in Monaco, where he reflected on his very “normal” childhood, his “positive mindset”, and his diet. Raphael Abraham took a break from being the FT’s deputy arts editor to draw a portrait of the man poised to become the biggest player in the game. 

And so to Norway – and another installation, in Odderøya, where keeper of the Norwegian sovereign purse Nicolai Tangen has converted a former grain store into a massive hub of contemporary Nordic modern art. It’s part of an effort to create a home for his own collection as well as to reinvigorate the cultural standing of his native town. Amusingly, or so I thought, Tangen’s tastes are untypically Scandinavian. Not for him the figurative works associated with the region’s artists; he’s no fan of scenes depicting “poor factory shipyards, loneliness and unhappiness”. Instead, his choices are more upbeat in spirit: an installation by Marianne Heske, glazed ceramics by Axel Salto. There’s still room, however, for “very dark, very sombre” pieces. As he admits: “That’s where we come from.” Even multimillionaires, it transpires, can’t compete with all that noir energy. 

@jellison22

Want to read HTSI before everyone else? Get all the top stories straight to your inbox every Friday. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter here