Construction site rubbish and recycled TVs to be used for Swindon art project
It'll feature outside the new Zurich building
Waste from local construction sites and even recycled TV screens will make up the new art being planned for a building which could become a Swindon landmark.
As work continues on the £40 million new Zurich headquarters building in Kimmerfields, a centrepiece of Swindon Borough Council’s proposed regeneration of the area – the artist who will provide the public art in the plaza outside on Fleming Way has been selected and her initial proposals approved.
Charlotte Kidger, a sculptor from London will make three separate pieces to be placed on the landscaped plaza. They will be formed form lozenge-shaped blocks and balls arranged in a variety of arrangements.
Charlottes’ presentation to council planners, which has been approved said the idea was for people to be able to get close and touch the work, and even sit on it: “Corrugated surface on exposed surfaces to add playfulness and variation to overall form. Also helps in deterring people from dwelling for too long if they choose to do so.
“Sculptures are open to interpretation on people wish to use them. There are no rules. People can explore them by getting up close and looking at the materials, touching the materials, sitting on the lower blocks, using the provided seating in the landscaped area to sit and look at the sculptures.”
The plan is to out the sculptures in the plaza, called Union Square outside the tower block, but the exact placement has not yet been decided upon.
Charlottes’s submission said the artworks would be “positioned to stand out and make a statement in the open space as well as encouraging people to dwell in this area and take different approaches to how they use it and walk through it.”
Charlotte’s pieces will be made of a variety of different materials – she wil use flint and quartz form local quarries, and said the colour would be inspired by the Victorian brickwork that makes up a lot of 19th century Swindon: “Warm terracotta, red, peach tones.. Red taken from the bricks we have been looking at as well as it being a warm earthy tone to add into the surrounding environment.”
Recycled TV screens will also be used adding grey, white and blue tones into the sculptures.
Although finance company Zurich is building the new tower block for its own headquarters, Swindon Borough Council has agreed to buy the building when completed and lease it back to the insurance giant.
Work on the building is hoped to be finished this year.