alex chinneck spears inverted electricity pylon into london's greenwich peninsula

alex chinneck spears inverted electricity pylon into london’s greenwich peninsula
all images courtesy of chris tubbs

during this year’s london design festival, british sculptor alex chinneck transforms the everyday into the extraordinary with his latest outdoor installation, ‘a bullet from a shooting star’. the enormous intervention sees a lattice of steel that takes the form of an inverted electricity pylon, seemingly shot into the ground at a precarious angle. in its realization, chinneck and a team used 450 pieces of steel and 900 engineered connection points, all constructed from a combined length of 1186 meters of steel weighing 15 tons. ‘my work is a combination of surrealism and spectacle,’ he says. ‘the spectacle is provided by the sheer scale of the sculpture and the physical feat of balancing it on its tip.’

the enormous intervention sees a lattice of steel that takes the form of an inverted electricity pylon

set at greenwich peninsula — once home to the largest oil and gas works in europe — the towering intervention acts as a visual beacon to signify the site’s future as a new residential district for london. ‘I was inspired by the incredible history of industry and power generation on the site,’ enthused the artist. ‘there are a number of architectural relics that remain from that time, and that aesthetic along with the historical narrative led me to electricity pylons.’

450 pieces of steel and 900 have been engineered at all connection points

the impressive 35 meter-high structure is visible from a multitude of vantage points surrounding the peninsula. ‘given the site and various points of view to it, there was a fantastic opportunity and a creative pressure to deliver a real cultural and sculptural beacon,’ says chinneck. the work’s dramatic silhouette, illuminated at night, creates a landmark that attracts attention to the area and its future landscape. by day, the work casts an intricate maze of shadows across the surrounding roads and footpaths, engaging visitors to walk beneath.

the towering intervention acts as a visual beacon for the site

‘a bullet from a shooting star’ has been commissioned by the london design festival in collaboration with hong kong-based property developer knight dragon, currently developing a new district comprising 15,000 new homes at greenwich peninsula.

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