Sheffield Tinsley Loop Canal: New artwork revealed

Video by James Hardisty

Transcript

00:00My name is Alex Chinook, I'm an artist and this is our looping boat located on the Sheffield

00:05and Tinsley Canal between lock gates four and five.

00:09We have been working on this project for a number of years.

00:12We've been working in Tinsley for eight years and this is our third public artwork within

00:16Tinsley.

00:17The first was a looping road where it created the illusion that a road was peeling up and

00:22a car was hanging upside down.

00:24The second was a knotted post box that went outside Tinsley Meadows Primary Academy and

00:30this is the third and final piece in that series and it's a permanent, free, all year

00:37round public artwork that everyone can come and see, hopefully understand and hopefully

00:43enjoy.

00:44The sculpture sits on the 200 year old canal and the site has no vehicular access so we

00:52had to use the canal system to transport the sections to site from Rotherham so it

00:57travelled two miles along the waterway and the loop itself is thought to be the tallest

01:03structure in 70 years to navigate the canal system.

01:09It's an artwork that is located near Tinsley Marina so it's kind of contextually responsive

01:17so it belongs to its location.

01:20The waterway here is beautiful and it has such an incredible history which is also intertwined

01:25with the history of the steelworks so we wanted to fabricate something that kind of resonated

01:30with the past of the canal but also celebrated that kind of industrial heritage and the materiality

01:36of that heritage but also something that's contemporary and playful and fun and uplifting.

01:43My work tries to combine ambition with accessibility so we try to create these big, impressive

01:50sculptural happenings that are kind of playful and fun and uplifting and we take a kind of

01:57serious path to playful moments and hopefully it encourages people to come, enjoy the canal,

02:05rediscover the canal, see the work and just feel positive about the place.

02:13Learn more at www.plastics-car.co.uk