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Hull has a new piece of artwork, coming in at a massive 75 metres long and 28 tonnes

Hull has a new piece of artwork, coming in at a massive 75 metres long and 28 tonnes
Hull has a new piece of artwork, coming in at a massive 75 metres long and 28 tonnes

As pieces of public art go, Hull definitely hasn’t gone down the “shy and retiring” route. Instead, they’ve installed an absolutely huge wind turbine blade into the city centre, measuring 75 metres long.

“Blade” is Hull’s latest spectacular contribution to their UK City of Culture programme. The piece was designed by multimedia artist Nayan Kulkarni and was built by workers at the Siemens factory in Hull.

(Danny Lawson/PA)

Kulkarni said: “This ready made artwork, 75 metres long, will divide the square forming a temporary impediment to a free flow. Carefully positioned it will force us to drift around its arabesque edges, our sight taking the place of the breeze. The twisting wing although inert and at rest in the street, speaks of movement, but not of freedom.”

(Danny Lawson/PA)

The work drives home the links between cultural events planned for Hull 2017 and the economic transformation of the city.

Organisers and civic leaders have consistently used the £300 million investment by Siemens in its state-of-the-art offshore wind manufacturing plant as a symbol for the city’s economic resurgence.

As you can probably imagine, the logistics of getting the 28-tonne artwork to its destination in the heart of the busy city were complex. More than 50 items of street furniture, including traffic lights and lamp posts, had to be removed to facilitate its journey into the city centre which started before sunrise – and eager people from the city were up early to catch its progress.

New Year’s Day marked the start of Hull’s year-long tenure as UK City of Culture 2017, and this is another very exciting addition to the programme.

When Blade finally made it to the square, people couldn’t quite believe how huge it really was. How on earth was it going to fit?!

It really did feel like a tight squeeze – some people thought things were looking a bit touch and go.

(Danny Lawson/PA)

And finally, to everyone’s delight, it was up! Considering it set off before sunrise and was only installed mid-afternoon, it certainly felt like a long time coming.

(Danny Lawson/PA)

Blade is the first work to be installed in Hull as part of Look Up, a year-long programme of artists’ works made specifically for the city’s public places and spaces. The artwork will remain in Queen Victoria Square until March 18.