The excitement is building for the public unveiling of an Arts & Business Northern Ireland project which will be launched at the Ulster Bank Festival at Queens on 29 October 2009.
This public art project demonstrates our commitment as partner in the development of ‘Kit’ by Tony Stallard; the first public artwork for the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
Through open submission competition, ArtSpark NI on behalf of Titanic Quarter Ltd and Arts & Business Northern Ireland commissioned a signature public artwork, as part of its Integrated Arts Strategy for the Abercorn Residential Complex ARC. The major public sculpture is by Essex-based artist Tony Stallard and will be the artist’s largest public artwork to date. Production of the artwork is coinciding with completion of Phase 1 of the ARC development, designed by Robinson McIlwaine. The artwork itself will be sited in the public realm area facing the Abercorn Basin.
Full size model Kit
Courtesy: Tony Stallard
Stallard is producing a high profile contemporary and innovative artwork entitled ‘Kit,’ a dramatic site-specific light sculpture cast in bronze. The artist is creating a strong vertical form that depicts recognisable Titanic elements on an outer frame. The overall sculpture suggests toy kits and air fix models. This reference points to the fact that the Titanic was created in Belfast in the area where this sculpture will be sited. It allows the public and all generations to relate to the ship’s creation and indeed the artist’s conception.
The sculpture is designed to offer a sense of shared ownership while simultaneously being playful and light-hearted. For Stallard, the sculpture is intended to “symbolise Belfast as an industrial pioneer at the time of building the Titanic. It references the industrial heritage of the area and can be seen as a reverie of the past, to create nostalgia of what was once heroic. It is designed to act as a contemporary tribute to the shipbuilders.
Kit (detail)
courtesy: Tony Stallard
The sculpture is ‘see through’ and transient, almost mythological. It is ambiently lit with blue and white phosphorous lighting that suggests the adjacent marine environment and the searchlights of ships. This permanent commission is due to be completed and sited in autumn 2009. This artwork is an exciting development for Belfast. It is a good news story at a time of economic complexity, providing opportunities for Belfast at a difficult time. Harland and Wolfe have been entrusted with fabricating the sculpture itself and their expertise is crucial in this project almost a century after production of the Titanic in the docklands.
This will be the first major artwork produced by Titanic Quarter at a budget of £200,000.
Mike Smith, CEO of Titanic Quarter has applauded the artwork “The Tony Stallard sculpture is magnificent. It will add richness to the well designed public space at Abercorn Basin and significant interest to the well established heritage trail along Queen’s Road”.
For Stallard, the involvement of Harland and Wolfe “takes us full circle…and authenticates the long lasting relationship that has almost become immortalised by their cranes which are inevitably loaded with a imaginary Titanic skyline.” The artist is humbled by the opportunity to create such an important public artwork; “I feel that this is a chance for the sculpture and the titanic quarter regeneration project as a whole, to bring this mythology back home and mark a celebration of the Titanic that is long overdue.”
Click here to read more about Tony Stallard: www.tonystallard.co.uk
Titanic Quarter