Sheffield Tinsley Loop Canal: New artwork revealed

  • last month
Video by James Hardisty
Transcript
00:00My name is Alex Chinook, I'm an artist and this is our looping boat located on the Sheffield
00:05and Tinsley Canal between lock gates four and five.
00:09We have been working on this project for a number of years.
00:12We've been working in Tinsley for eight years and this is our third public artwork within
00:16Tinsley.
00:17The first was a looping road where it created the illusion that a road was peeling up and
00:22a car was hanging upside down.
00:24The second was a knotted post box that went outside Tinsley Meadows Primary Academy and
00:30this is the third and final piece in that series and it's a permanent, free, all year
00:37round public artwork that everyone can come and see, hopefully understand and hopefully
00:43enjoy.
00:44The sculpture sits on the 200 year old canal and the site has no vehicular access so we
00:52had to use the canal system to transport the sections to site from Rotherham so it
00:57travelled two miles along the waterway and the loop itself is thought to be the tallest
01:03structure in 70 years to navigate the canal system.
01:09It's an artwork that is located near Tinsley Marina so it's kind of contextually responsive
01:17so it belongs to its location.
01:20The waterway here is beautiful and it has such an incredible history which is also intertwined
01:25with the history of the steelworks so we wanted to fabricate something that kind of resonated
01:30with the past of the canal but also celebrated that kind of industrial heritage and the materiality
01:36of that heritage but also something that's contemporary and playful and fun and uplifting.
01:43My work tries to combine ambition with accessibility so we try to create these big, impressive
01:50sculptural happenings that are kind of playful and fun and uplifting and we take a kind of
01:57serious path to playful moments and hopefully it encourages people to come, enjoy the canal,
02:05rediscover the canal, see the work and just feel positive about the place.
02:13Learn more at www.plastics-car.co.uk

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