See Monster: What's the new art installation made from an old oil rig all about?
- Published
- comments
What on earth do you do with an old oil rig?
Well, a team in Weston-super-mare have come up with a pretty special idea!
They are planning to turn a used oil platform from the North Sea into a public art work.
The See Monster, as it is called, was transported to the town's seaside on a barge as large as a football pitch.
The people behind the art project say they want it to get people talking about sustainability.
The entire construction will be 35m tall - 15m taller than the Angel of the North and just 11m shy of Nelson's Column.
Newsubstance, one of the groups behind the installation, said the "world-first project" is an "ambitious feat of design".
Organisers said it will feature four levels including a waterfall, a 6,000-piece installation of the monster's shimmering scales, an onboard green oasis and a seated amphitheatre and broadcast studio!
Mark Canniford from North Somerset Council, said: "The idea of bringing this back and showing people how this can be of benefit and the lessons that could be learned is fantastic."
The 450-tonne platform was brought over from the Netherlands and arrived in Weston-super-Mare bay in the early hours of this morning.
Newsubstance founder, Patrick O'Mahony, said: "These giants are all over the world and no one has ever tried to do this before.... It's like a rehabilitation. It's spent its life taking from the earth and now it's time for it to give back."
The installation forms part of a project called Unboxed: Creativity in the UK, which features 10 separate projects that draw on science, technology, engineering and maths.