Appearing like an artist’s imaginative rendering on the blank canvas of nature, the “Singing Ringing Tree” is a futuristic art sculpture in England. Set in the Pennine mountain range in Lancashire, overlooking Burnley, the project is one of four sculptures that are part of the Panopticons project of the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network (ELEAN), and funded by organisations including the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Lancashire Economic Partnership.
Not only do the steel pipes that make up the sculpture look futuristic and like the result of a berserk brush on an artists’ canvas, they also produce sound in the wind. The sculpture is therefore named after the East German children’s film of 1957, “The Singing Ringing Tree.” The 3m tall sculpture made from galvanised steel is designed by the London-based firm Tonkin Liu’s architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu with assistance from Jane Wernick Associates. The sound produced covers many octaves and is a penetrating and mildly discordant choral noise. The variation in the noise is a result of the interaction of the wind with the structure.
Designing a musical sculpture posed quite a few challenges as it was the first of its kind attempted by Tonkin Liu. The site for which Tonkin Liu submitted the proposal offers a panoramic view and, in extreme cases, experiences winds blowing at speeds reaching 160km/hr. This sparked in the designers a desire to create something striking and musical. Costing £60,000 to build, the “Singing Ringing Tree” was awarded the National Award of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2007. This futuristic art sculpture, looking fresh out the blank canvas of an artist’s imagination, is a perfect symbol of Lancashire’s renaissance, as the Panopticons project was intended to be.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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.
Visual Arts Directory. We are listed under Drawing and Painting Supplies category
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.
Visual Arts Directory. We are listed under Drawing and Painting Supplies category
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