After weeks of delays, a rusty North Sea oil rig turned art installation is about to be exhibited during a gathering called the “Festival of Brexit.”
This abandoned platform in Weston-Super-Mare has been transformed into the “See Monster” as part of the year-long “Unboxed: Creativity in the UK” event.
The massive 450-ton edifice was initially planned to go on display as a tourist attraction at the start of the summer break.
The ‘See Monster’ public art project has been beset by delays, but event organisers have offered a partial opening date of one week from today.
It is one of ten artistic endeavours commissioned as a part of “Unboxed: Creativity in the UK,” which Jacob Rees-Mogg first dubbed the “Festival of Brexit.”
Up until October, Unboxed is hosting a series of free events as part of a “once-in-a-lifetime celebration of UK creativity,” including another piece of art called “Dreamachine” that attempts to unleash the mind’s multicoloured potential.
Another, called “StoryTrails,” which runs from July to September, employs virtual reality technology to bring to life the “hidden history” of 15 UK towns and cities.
The renovation of the “See Monster,” according to the event’s organisers, is a “world-first that intends to spur worldwide dialogues about the reuse of massive industrial buildings and design-led solutions to sustainable futures.”
The towering platform was moved to its new location at the Tropicana, the old 1930s lido where Banksy’s Dismaland was headquartered, on July 13. It was hauled to the Somerset coast on a flatbed barge the size of a football field.
It was then hoisted by a crane onto previously built legs and over the seawall.
The world’s first project was the idea of Leeds-based design and events business Newsubstance, who called it an ambitious design achievement.
According to the organisers, “See Monster” will include a seating amphitheatre, a broadcast studio, a 6,000-piece kinetic installation producing the monster’s shimmering scales, and four floors that are open to the public and moved by a 12 m waterfall.
The total structure is 35 metres high. This is just 11 metres short of Nelson’s Column and 15 metres higher than the Angel of the North.
The purpose of the initiative, according to Newsubstance’s creative director and creator Patrick O’Mahony, was to develop a platform “to tell tales with.”
What better platform than a disused oil rig, he continued?
The opportunity provided by See Monster allowed us to build a building that was substantial, enjoyable, and had a significant effect.
“It will feature experiments in renewable futures, so new ideas in wind turbines and solar, a great quantity of kinetic artworks spanning the whole building, and a gigantic waterfall that cascades down the front.”
The rig was in the North Sea for 30 years before spending the past 12 months being dismantled, cleaned, and repaired at a Dutch shipyard in preparation for being delivered to Weston-super-Mare.
We didn’t want to create from scratch; instead, Mr. O’Mahony stated, “We really wanted to investigate repurposed [resources].”
We wanted to truly develop that blueprint to explore what’s feasible – we are taking these monsters that have had one life form and converting them into something new.
There are these gigantic industrial constructions all over the planet, the rigs are only one of them.
“We wanted to bring it in almost as the beast and turn it into a beauty, and when it comes in and is lifted and placed on the legs, we’re going to spread a vast wild garden over the top over the following six to eight weeks,” the artist said.
The idea is that it has been “rehabilitated” since it has spent its whole existence taking from the environment and it is now time to give.
Despite the enormous amount of work put into completing the project, it will only be completely accessible to the general public from the weekend of the August bank holiday to the end of October.
Many of the artworks are scheduled to be displayed throughout the town once it shuts, and the rig itself will be disassembled and repurposed.
“See Monster is an amazing and awe-inspiring project that represents the mission of Unboxed, to celebrate creative cooperation across science, engineering, and the arts,” said Martin Green, the event’s chief creative officer.
“Everyone concerned should be proud of the transformation of a disused platform into one of the most ambitious public art projects in the UK. It is an extraordinary endeavour and will give a pattern for the reuse of industrial buildings.”
We are thrilled that See Monster is coming, said Cllr. Mark Canniford, executive member for placemaking and economics at North Somerset Council.
“To commemorate its stay here, an amazing schedule of events and activities has been organised across the town, and we look forward to greeting tourists from all over the nation to partake in this special occasion.”