B of the Bang: A Public Art Project in Manchester

Thomas Heatherwick’s brilliant artistic imagination conjured up B of the Bang, a public art project in Manchester, leaning more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and depicting sparks flying from a core. But more down-to-earth structural and safety issues concerning the artwork have forced the Manchester City Council to decide to dismantle the structure and store it in order to assemble and install it again at an alternate site (possibly the Sport city location), if a feasible option for installation exists.

B of the Bang is a sculpture commissioned by the City of Manchester to celebrate the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in the city. The design for the sculpture submitted by Thomas Heatherwick was approved and construction due to complete in 2003. However, the engineering challenges associated with the design delayed the official unveiling until 12 January 2005. Built by Thomas Heatherwick Studio, Westbury Structures, Flint and Neill and Packman Lucas, it also exceeded the budget. Ultimately costing £1.42m, the tall and massive sculpture was named after a quotation of Linford Christie, British sprinter, who said that he started running in a race not at the ‘bang’ of the pistol but at the ‘b’ of the ‘bang’.

Built of Weathering Steel, the sculpture originally consisted of 180 tapered slender pikes branching out from the core and is 20 stories high, inclined at a 30-degree angle. Standing 184 feet (56m) tall, it is taller than the Angel of The North in Gateshead. However, one of its spikes fell off six days before B of the Bang’s unveiling in January 2005. Further structural issues and safety doubts resulted in 9 of its spikes removed for testing for signs of wear.

Dismantling has begun in April 2009, following an out-of-court settlement in which Thomas Heatherwick Studio Ltd paid the Manchester City Council £1.7m in damages. The distinctive public art sculpture will eventually disappear from the Manchester skyline until plans are laid to install it again.

Artists Blank Canvas sells Art Canvas made from 100% cotton canvas mounted on kiln dried fir wood stretcher bars. The canvases are in two different depths; 19mm Deep Canvases and 38mm Deep Edge Canvases.

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How to Make a Canvas – Building a Stretched Canvas

Purchasing primed stretched canvas saves a lot of hassles, as it enables you to start painting right away. But when you buy an unstretched canvas on a roll you have the most important task by stretching it over stretcher bars to make a canvas. Building a canvas can sometimes be the only way of obtaining stretched canvases to the exact size required. It involves the following steps:

Stretcher Bars

First, you need to get yourself some good quality stretcher bars. Some of the stretcher bars available in the market are of the gallery wrap-style, and range from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches in thickness. They enable the canvas to be wrapped around them in order for the painting to be hung without a frame. Modern stretcher bars have mortise and tenon joints at their ends allowing the constructed canvas frame to be adjustable with the use of tightening wedge keys.

As a cheaper alternative you could make simple stretcher bars from soft-wood timber bought from a hardware store. After cutting the timber to the desired lengths, screw and glue the pieces together to make a canvas frame. Ensuring the frame is at right angles, use sash clamps to hold the stretcher in place whilst the glue sets.

Precise Stapling Required

The next step involves stapling the sides of the canvas to the stretcher bars, leaving 3 to 4 inches of the canvas to overhang past the edges of the bars. A center staple on each of the four sides should help the canvas remain secured to the frame when you begin to stretch it. Pull the canvas around the bars and staple all the corners below the bars. Flatten the sides and pinch any excess canvas. For more a detailed description of stapling a canvas, read the following article on Restretching a Canvas.

Tighten the Canvas if Necessary

You may need to further tighten your new Stretched Canvas; you can spray a small amount of water on the back and iron it. Sprinkling or applying hot water with cloth would also tighten the canvas as the hot water dries up. You may also want to learn How to Tighten a Canvas with tightening keys. Your Stretched Canvas is now ready to be primed, painted on and to be hung.