09 Jan 2017
Giant wind turbine artwork installed in Hull for UK City of Culture 2017
BY Tom Anstey
Artist Nayan Kulkarni has installed a 75m-long (250ft) rotor blade in the centre of Hull – the first in a series of temporary installations marking its year as UK City of Culture.
Commissioned in partnership with Siemens and with the support of Green Port Hull, “Blade” is part of Look Up – a year-long programme for Hull 2017 that will feature a number of artists creating works designed to look at and experience the city in new ways.
The 28-tonne installation – which was created in Hull and will remain on display until 18 March – is the world’s largest handmade fibreglass component to be cast as a single object, with the B75 rotor blade usually sitting atop a mammoth wind turbine.
“Blade seeks to transform Hull’s streetscape through the imposition of a single wind turbine blade,” said Kulkarni. “This will be a profound material gesture, a spectacle, an obstacle and an object of wonder. This readymade artwork divides the square, forming a temporary impediment to a free flow.
"Carefully positioned, it forces us to drift around its arabesque edges, our sight taking the place of the breeze. The twisting wing, although inert and at rest in the street, speaks of movement, but not of freedom.”
Arup were project engineers for the installation, with Pearlgreen Engineering offering support fabrication.
Abnormal Load Engineering and North Midland Construction Plc handled transport of the object, which involved removing more than 50 items of street furniture to allow the piece to reach the square.
“Despite its size, what is striking about the sculpture is its elegance. Putting this example of state of the art technology against the historic charms of Queen Victoria Square makes you look at this fine public space differently,” said Martin Green, CEO and director of Hull 2017.
"It's a structure we would normally expect out at sea and in a way it might remind you of a giant sea creature, which seems appropriate with Hull's maritime history.
"It's a magnificent start to our Look Up programme, which will see artists creating site specific work throughout 2017 for locations around the city."
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