Alex Chinneck Unveils New Southbank Centre Sculpture

Alex Chinneck

The British artist Alex Chinneck today revealed his latest illusory artwork. Following 2014’s ‘floating building’ in Covent Garden, ‘Pick yourself up and pull yourself together’ sees the artist hang a new car 15 feet in the air while still attached to the road at London’s Southbank Centre.

Speaking on the artwork, Alex Chinneck said, “I see sculpture as the physical reinterpretation of the material world around us and so by introducing fictional narratives into familiar scenarios, I try to make everyday situations as extraordinary as they can be. I choose to do this through illusions because I think there is something both optimistic and captivating about defying the realms of possibility.”

“With an effortlessly curling road I hoped to transcend the material nature of tarmac and stone, giving these typically inflexible materials an apparent fluidity. I was allowed a great amount of creative freedom and this collaboration offered my studio an exciting platform to explore new areas of engineering and fabrication”.

After making Covent Garden hover with 2014’s ‘Take My Lightning, But Don’t Steal my Thunder’ and ‘A Pound of Flesh for 50p’ where a house in Southwark gradually melted to the ground, Alex wanted to create a public installation of significant sculptural and theatrical impact, which complimented the car’s design.

As well as Alex himself, the sculpture has been produced by a team of structural engineers, steel benders, scenic artists, metal workers, carpenters, tarmac layers and road painters, “Simple in concept yet structurally, technically and logistically complex, this project looks to deliver an experience that can be appreciated by different people for different reasons. While I am most excited by the hidden engineering and complex manipulation of concealed steel, others will simply enjoy the accessible theatricality of the illusion at play,” said Alex Chinneck.

Southbank Centre Hungerford Car Park Belvedere Road London, SE1 8XX

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