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Post by John Parry on Oct 1, 2005 8:02:30 GMT -5
Hi everyone, This is our famous B of the Bang - said to be the largest sculpture in Europe. It's located next to Manchester City's City of Manchester football (soccer) stadium. This was taken on match day (we lost!) The sculpture got it's name from one of our greatest sprinters - Linford Christie, who was asked how he achieved such great starts off the blocks. His reply was "You have to set off at the B of the Bang" - meaning the starter's pistol. The sculpture represents the bang. Regards - John
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Post by Randy on Oct 1, 2005 15:38:22 GMT -5
I wouldn't want to be parachuting near that place!
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Post by kamera on Oct 2, 2005 6:03:33 GMT -5
That thing could no doubt do a job on a hot-air balloon also.
The sculpture is most interesting. It looks like it might be copper?? Who was the artist and who commissioned him/her...the runner?
Ron Head Kalamazoo, MI
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Post by John Parry on Oct 2, 2005 13:02:49 GMT -5
Hi Ron,
OK. Mancunians, the residents of Manchester (my home city) are well known for their interest in sports of all types. Having failed in our bid to attract the Olympic Games there (we lost out to Sidney), we held the 2002 Commonwealth Games in the city. A massive urban regeneration program saw the City of Manchester Stadium and a whole new sports complex known as Sport City rise from what had been a largely derelict area to the east of the city centre (hence its other name of Eastlands).
Most amazing of all, the water sports at the games were held on the Manchester Ship Canal - a stretch of water that only a couple of years before had been one of the most polluted in the world.
The games themselves were an unqualified success, with every event being attended by packed houses. The people of Manchester made friends with people from all over the world, and the closing ceremony rivalled anything that any of the Olympics so far has had to offer (in my opinion!).
So, to get back on topic, the B of the Bang was commissioned to celebrate the success of the games. It was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, an architectural designer, and it's made of something called weathering steel. Your thought that it looks like copper isn't too wide of the mark Ron - weathering steel apparently forms its own protective coating in different colours by oxidising at different controlled rates.
As you can probably tell I like it!
ps there was just one small problem, when a weld failed and the tip of one of the spikes fell off, which has made people a little nervous about walking underneath it - but what the heck, somethin's gonna kill ya! They have replaced the welds since!
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Oct 2, 2005 16:04:04 GMT -5
Weathering steel, eh? Goes with Wuthering Heights . OK I know it's the wrong colour rose, but I couldn't resist it, sorry. Peter
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rover
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Post by rover on Oct 2, 2005 20:17:12 GMT -5
The crowd adds a very good perspective to the sculpture. The fact that the gent in the lower right is facing the camera is a big plus.
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