Graduate's 'Big Bang'

Britain’s tallest sculpture, designed by MMU graduate Thomas Heatherwick, is nearing completion in east Manchester.

B of the Bang stands 184ft high and will have 180 tapered steel spikes when completed. So far 160 have been attached to the central core of the £1.4 million sculpture by engineers working more than 100 feet above the ground.

Twice the height of Gateshead’s Angel of the North, the metal art work near to Manchester City’s stadium, symbolises the burst of speed and energy of an athlete launching out of the blocks and was inspired by Linford Christie, who said he started his gold medal-winning Olympic race on the “b of the bang”.

Thomas Heatherwick, 34, is a graduate of MMU’s three-dimensional design course and has built a worldwide reputation for ambitious sculpture, creating work for Harvey Nichols, Terence Conran and the Jubilee Line, London.

Regeneration agency New East Manchester commissioned Thomas after a panel including local residents and art experts selected the sculpture to form a centrepiece for Sportcity to mark the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Tom Russell, chief executive of New East Manchester said: “As B of the Bang has taken shape, the feats of design and engineering that have gone into its construction have been on display for all to see. Its sheer size and scale have attracted widespread interest and admiration.”

As with most public art, Thomas’s work is polemic and local people’s views are being collected by the Manchester Evening News. Here are some of them:

“It already looks spectacular, and when it reaches 180ft, it should look stunning with the ground-level floodlights picking it out against the skyline. Great art is always ahead of its time…” – Eric, Droylsden

“I’m sure people will warm to it over time, and it will attract people to visit, as the Angel of the North does for the North East…” – Derek, Middleton

“The plus point is that we now have something to hoist Mr Keane up on, if he ever decides to come to our place again.” – The Rifleman, Peel Hall

MMU’s Faculty of Art and Design is the largest centre in the North of England for architecture, three-dimensional design, interior design, landscape architecture, graphic design, furniture and lighting design, sculpture, fine art, photography, animation, new media, advertising and art direction, fashion, ceramics, embroidery, film-making, print and drama. Contact artdes@mmu.ac.uk or go to www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk