Dream (sculpture)

Dream (sculpture)
Dream
Dream
Artist Jaume Plensa
Year 2009
Type Dolomite on cast concrete
Location Sutton Manor Colliery, St Helens

Dream is a sculpture and a piece of public art by Jaume Plensa in Sutton, St Helens, Merseyside.[1] Costing approximately £1.8m the funds were secured through The Big Art Project in coordination with the Arts Council England, The Art Fund and Channel 4.[2][1]

Contents

Origin

In 2008 St Helens took part in Channel 4's "The Big Art Project" along with several other sites. The project culminated in the unveiling of "Dream", a 20m sculpture located on the old Sutton Manor Colliery Site.[2][1]

St Helens retains strong cultural ties to the Coal Industry and has several monuments including the wrought iron gates of Sutton Manor Colliery,[3] as well as the 1995 town centre installation by Thompson Dagnall known as "The Landings" (depicting individuals working a coal seam) and Arthur Fleischmann's Anderton Shearer monument (a piece of machinery first used at the Ravenhead Mine).

The Council and local residents (including approximately 15 former miners from the Colliery) where involved in the consultation and commission process through which the Dream was selected.[1] The plans involved a full landscaping of the surrounding area on land previously allowed to go wild after the closure of the pit.

The sculpture

The Dream consists of an elongated white structure 20 metres (66 ft) tall, weighing 500 tons, which has been cast to resemble the head and neck of a young woman with her eyes closed in meditation. The structure is coated in sparkling white Spanish dolomite, as a contrast to the coal which used to be mined here. It cost nearly £1.9 million and it is hoped it will become as powerful a symbol in North West England as Antony Gormley's Angel of the North is in North East England.[4]

Jaume Plensa himself stated "When I first came to the site I immediately thought something coming out of the earth was needed. I decided to do a head of a nine-year-old girl which is representing this idea of the future. It's unique."[1]

In 2011 Dream received funding by art and culture companies to have Dream lit up and to have a spotlight shining out the top of the head. This links with St Helens' motto, in English means 'From the ground, light', a reference to dreams reaching the stars.[5][1]

Construction

The Dream sculpture is built out of moulded and cast unique concrete shapes, 90 pieces in all contributing to over 14 tiers (54 individual elements for the head, each weighing 9 tonnes). Dolomite was utilised as a concrete aggregate in order to provide the brilliant white finish. Additionally titanium dioxide was added to the mix in order to provide a self cleaning mechanism. The construction required the construction of individual moulds for each piece and took a total of 60 days to cast.

The foundations of the sculpture extend 38m into the ground with 8 piles driven in to secure it.

Location

The sculpture sited on an old spoil tip of Sutton Manor Colliery which closed in 1991 and it overlooks the M62 motorway.

Dream Legacy

A programme of legacy works is due to be launched in May. This includes the Dream Digital Interpretation, a series of audio guides and smartphone applications.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Daily Mirror Website". The Mirror. http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/the-ticket/2009/04/art-st-helens-dream-sculpture.html. Retrieved 21 July 2009. 
  2. ^ a b "St. Helens Dream". St. Helens Council. http://www.dreamsthelens.com/site.do;jsessionid=767CDE46DC0FFE026BF3F006EAC06129. 
  3. ^ "The Channel 4 Big Art Project In St.Helens". Channel 4. http://www.bigartsthelens.com/big-art-sthelens-sutton-manor/. 
  4. ^ Sooke, Alastair (25 April 2009). The new face of the North West. Telegraph Review. The Daily Telegraph. p. 16 
  5. ^ "Community NewsGroup". Community NewsGroup. http://www.communitynewsgroup.co.uk/news/4310776.Statue_goes_up_just_like_a_dream/. Retrieved 21 July 2009. 

External links

v · St Helens, Merseyside
Blackbrook · Bold · Carr Mill Dam · Clock Face · Eccleston · Moss Bank · Parr · Ravenhead · Sutton Leach & Sutton Manor · Thatto Heath · Windle

Coordinates: 53°24′36″N 2°43′20″W / 53.41°N 2.7222°W / 53.41; -2.7222

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