40 metre Statue of Destiny proposed for Perth

The Scotsman

40 metre Statue of Destiny proposed for Perth   The huge statue 'Destiny" would be taller than the Statue of Liberty and a rival to the much loved Kelpies.   Sculpter David J Mitchell has put forward the exciting proposal for the Perth site and hopes the statue would have visitors flocking to the area to marvel at the art work.

Transcript

00:00My name is David Mitchell, I am a sculptor.

00:17Yeah, so this is a wee proposal that I've been putting together for a statue going up

00:24in, just north of Perth.

00:28The idea is that it's going to be a figure of destiny, 40 metres from ground to the top

00:34of her head, which would make her bigger than the Statue of Liberty.

00:40He'd walk up inside her and up into the crown and down the other arm, and then there'd be

00:45a wee viewing platform up here from which you'd be able to see the city.

00:51The guys that are doing all the bridges and this whole revitalisation of the area, they

00:59want a central piece of work for it.

01:01I think they were wanting something on the same scale as the Kelpies.

01:06What sort of timescale are you talking for, from start to finish?

01:09It would take about two years.

01:11The proposal was full bronze, with a weathered Statue of Liberty colour to it.

01:21And the crown would be gold.

01:23What would it mean for you to get this commission, David?

01:25It'd probably be the highlight of my entire career, to be honest.

01:29It would ensure lots more work in the future, it would ensure a bigger studio, and really

01:39it would give me a space to create more work for Scotland, and to give more work away as

01:47well to councils that would like work but couldn't afford it.

01:54It would let me start a gallery to show work, it would probably mean everything.

02:03There's not many statues like this in the world, never mind Scotland.

02:08The idea is that in the long term this will bring money in, this will bring tourism in,

02:14this will bring visitors to Perth, it will more than make up for the money spent on it.

02:21The Kelpies I think took about £5 million to make, the amount of time over the ten years

02:27or so they've been up, they've brought in over £120 million.

02:32And would you expect the same to happen?

02:34I would expect the same to happen, yeah, easily, easily.

02:38It's not one of these kind of statues that's going to go out of fashion, it's not going

02:42to get rusty, people aren't going to look at it in ten years and think it's ugly or

02:48be sick of it.

02:49It's an established form, it will only become more valuable the longer it's been there.

03:00The closest thing you can compare it to is the Statue of Liberty, or something like Christ

03:04the Redeemer, it becomes a symbol of the city.

03:08This figure is called Destiny and I think it's for Scotland, it's sort of presenting

03:16this crown of destiny to the future.

03:20So this would be a commission for a new development in Perth.

03:25So there's a new road network being built called the Cross-Tailinks Road Network, which

03:30includes a bridge and some revitalisation of the road network, along with some grasslands

03:38and scenery and some smaller works of art.

03:41And then this would be ideally the piece de resistance, the central piece of work which

03:47you should be able to see as you drive along the road.

03:50This here would be built from bronze in a thousand or so sections, which would be welded

03:55together and put up on site.

03:57So it would get put together in pieces, welded and then patinated, and bronze is the perfect

04:02medium for it, especially in Scotland with our climate.

04:05Stone statues fall to pieces, you know the rain that batters Scotland destroys a stone

04:13statue in 100 years, 200 years, but a bronze statue like this would last a thousand years.

04:22So this proposal went in the tail end of last year, probably won't find out until next

04:27year.

04:28The height of this statue would be 40 metres from the base to the top of the head.

04:35There would be a walkway around the back and an entrance just at the bottom of the base

04:40here behind the foot.

04:42You'd walk in, up some stairs up inside, along the arm, up to a wee viewing platform from

04:51where you could look straight down, or you could look out towards Perth, because this

04:57should be facing south towards Perth, and then you'd walk around here, take your photos,

05:04and come down the other arm, and then down some stairs this way, and then back out.

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