alex chinneck knots street lamps and twists a phone booth for his assembly bristol sculptures

alex chinneck’s Street sculptures around assembly bristol

At Assembly Bristol in England, Alex Chinneck brings over three recent sculptures, all cast in metal: two knotted street lamps and one twisted phone booth. They join his earlier tied post box public art installed on Cheese Lane, which marks its re-opening as a public right of way after a 50-year closure. Passerbys around the city’s waterfront location can see how much detailing the artist has poured to make his street sculptures as hyperrealistic as possible.

They’re not just immobile decorations too, because they light up at night, illuminating the streets with a warm glow. The British sculptor, who has also brought a giant looping steel boat to Sheffield, uses metal as his main material for his four sculptures. When he twists his traditional British phone box titled ‘Wring ring’, he also glazes the windows that follow the twisting so they appear skewed too. This sculpture stands outside Building A at the Assembly Bristol.

all photos by Charles Emerson, courtesy of Alex Chinneck

Knotted street lamps and red-painted post box sculptures

Two of the recent metal sculptures that Alex Chinneck plants at the Assembly Bristol are both street lamps. One is tied like a ribbon, with their heads bent down as they descend from the knot, while the other has their poles interlaced, their heads still pointed to the sky as they seemingly share a passionate hug. It’s because of the latter’s pose that the British sculptor names it ‘First Kiss at last light’, and both of these brighten up the dark streets at night.

The four-meter-tall sculptures rise in front of Bristol’s Floating Harbour wall, finally accompanying Alphabetti Spaghetti, which is the knotted post box. This red fire-hydrant-looking sculpture made its debut overnight in three towns and cities around the UK as part of Alex Chinneck’s temporary and multi-sited installation in 2019. He painted it with pillar-box red so that it complements the design of his recent twisted phone box, the Assembly building by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, and the historic cobbles of Cheese Lane. These playful street sculptures by Alex Chinneck are on view at the Assembly Bristol.

street lamps tied like a ribbon as one of Alex Chinneck’s recent sculptures at Assembly Bristol