Nixon_The_Bike_Thief
Well-Known Member
Re: Etihad Campus, Stadium Development and Collar Site (cont
A public sculpture styled on giant chess pieces is coming to Beswick - and council bosses promise it won’t 'do a B of the Bang' and fall apart.
Created by artist Ryan Gander and dubbed ‘Dad’s Halo Effect’, the £341,000 work has been built using the refund from the B of the Bang - the 184ft structure taken down in 2009 after a succession of spikes fell off. It will be centrepiece to the Beswick regeneration project, unveiled in September. It’s composed of a trio of 3m high highly polished stainless steel sculptures in a checkmate position. Mr Gander, whose other public works are in New York and London, lived in Miles Platting while studying interactive arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. He says it’s impossible to know which piece is on which side - harking to the adage it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts. The work is also based on the steering mechanism of a commercial Bedford truck - originally described to Ryan by his father who worked for General Motors. It is this meaning and back story that Ryan refers to as the ‘halo effect’. In a video link from Singapore at the Beswick Library design launch, he added: “I really like the idea that physically objects can be the same but there is a story or history associated with them that makes them more, that’s why they are valuable. The halo effect refers also to all the other possible stories with the work - what the work means to everyone else, to footballers at the academy or students, all the people who use the space, and if it remains open in its ability to tell different stories then I think the work resists closure and can just go on forever. Richard Leese, council leader, said the B of the Bang budget was being well-spent. He added: “This comes from the refund on the B of the Bang. I loved it and it was an enormous shame it didn’t work from an engineering perspective. “The refund could only be used for public art and that’s what we are doing now.”
Coinciding with a Ryan Gander exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery opening July 3, the gallery will host a month of community art education workshops with Beswick schools and groups, some led by Ryan.
strongbowholic said:
A public sculpture styled on giant chess pieces is coming to Beswick - and council bosses promise it won’t 'do a B of the Bang' and fall apart.
Created by artist Ryan Gander and dubbed ‘Dad’s Halo Effect’, the £341,000 work has been built using the refund from the B of the Bang - the 184ft structure taken down in 2009 after a succession of spikes fell off. It will be centrepiece to the Beswick regeneration project, unveiled in September. It’s composed of a trio of 3m high highly polished stainless steel sculptures in a checkmate position. Mr Gander, whose other public works are in New York and London, lived in Miles Platting while studying interactive arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. He says it’s impossible to know which piece is on which side - harking to the adage it’s not the winning but the taking part that counts. The work is also based on the steering mechanism of a commercial Bedford truck - originally described to Ryan by his father who worked for General Motors. It is this meaning and back story that Ryan refers to as the ‘halo effect’. In a video link from Singapore at the Beswick Library design launch, he added: “I really like the idea that physically objects can be the same but there is a story or history associated with them that makes them more, that’s why they are valuable. The halo effect refers also to all the other possible stories with the work - what the work means to everyone else, to footballers at the academy or students, all the people who use the space, and if it remains open in its ability to tell different stories then I think the work resists closure and can just go on forever. Richard Leese, council leader, said the B of the Bang budget was being well-spent. He added: “This comes from the refund on the B of the Bang. I loved it and it was an enormous shame it didn’t work from an engineering perspective. “The refund could only be used for public art and that’s what we are doing now.”
Coinciding with a Ryan Gander exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery opening July 3, the gallery will host a month of community art education workshops with Beswick schools and groups, some led by Ryan.