09 Aug 2022
Decommissioned oil rig transformed into See Monster art installation
BY Tom Walker
An oil rig that spent three decades in the North Sea before it was retired last year is being transformed into an interactive art installation in Weston-super-Mare, UK.
Called 'See Monster', the 450-tonne structure is the brainchild of design company Newsubstance.
Described as a "celebration of the great British weather and British eccentricity", visitors will have the opportunity to travel up and inside the structure, which features a waterfall, a seated amphitheatre and an art installation. When complete, it will also be covered in plants and trees.
Newsubstance said: "Guests will pass behind the thrashing cascade of a 12-metre waterfall, and under the shimmering scales into the cavernous underbelly of the beast.
"Within the wild garden, they will find hidden routes to explore the rehabilitated See Monster, where embedded throughout will be new approaches to a more sustainable and greener future.
"They may encounter sudden showers of rainfall from above or find yourself engulfed within a playful collection of clouds.
"Whatever the weather, See Monster will encourage interaction and playfulness at the heart of Britain’s cultural cornerstone: creating the sense of children gleefully jumping in puddles, whilst adults grumble at drizzly grey skies and strangers bond over something mutually shared."
"As a creation of new from old, the regeneration of the rig, transformed from its former life, will champion the role of re-use and creativity within our future."
See Monster is part of Unboxed: Creativity in the UK, a celebration of creativity, taking place across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and online from March to October 2022.
The structure arrived at Weston-super-Mare on 13 July and is expected to open to guests this summer.
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