Day 138: Exposure Up Close

Exposure Open Day!!!  Sometimes I totally show myself up as a massive geek and I think today it was pretty evident as I went around examining all the nuts and bolts and welding and joints and stroking random bits of metal!  I do so love this sculpture though, and getting up close was just brilliant.  He absolutely towers above you and you can get right under him and look up.  In the picture above I am stood under him looking up through the gap between his arms and legs at his head.  I suspect it's pretty hard to make out for people who aren't familiar with him (you might want to look at my previous posts about him: Day 125 and Day 126) but I love it because it is so chaotic and then you pick out his head and it suddenly makes a little more sense.

The bolts are just cool - those two pictures were my favourites and I couldn't pick between them, so I decided that if you couldn't get anything from the top one then maybe the bolts would be more appreciable.  They are huge and there are so many of them!  I liked the perspective on this one, the angles, that some of the bolts are perpendicular to others and the way they fade off into the distance like they might go on forever.  That isn't a macro shot by the way - those bolts are thicker than my fingers!

Up close the engineering is that much more impressive.  The size of the nuts and bolts and how many there are, all the welding and joints.  This picture is a good example of how complex the nodes are and they get much more so!  I actually can't believe it is possible to do that and it just makes it all the more astounding that the sculpture is finished and standing.  One of the guys at the open day said that someone had told them that they might be able to model the sculpture in the software, but that it was impossible to actually build it.  It must be so nice to have finished it and be able to turn around and say "Taadaaaa!"

One of the other cool things I saw was this joint on the left side of his left foot near his ankle.  The sections of steel make an A - my mum spotted it and pointed it out and I think it is brilliant - well I certainly would if I was Antony Gormley - A for Antony - it's like having your signature oh so subtly worked into the structure.  I hope he sees it!

And then there is section 42 - need I say more!  I noticed 39 and 40 and then went on a hunt for 42 to satisfy my inner Hitchhiker!  It's nice to know he has the answer - I wonder if he will be able to come up with the question while he sits and stares out to sea thinking.

One of the highlights though was spotting this nut under his left foot, asking if I could have it and being told yes.  I know it's not on the sculpture and never will have been but it's the same as the others and it was there and I'm geeky enough to think that rules.

After it has been looked over by Antony the sculpture will be taken down again to be transported to Holland.  It will be pretty hard to see him come down again but I think he will be my excuse to go to Holland.  Bye Exposure!  Send me a postcard :-)