A section of Covent Garden’s Market Building broke free from its foundations and floated into the air. This new installation – entitled ‘Take my lightning but don’t steal my thunder’ – is the latest mind-bending artwork by innovative British artist Alex Chinneck, and is on display on Covent Garden’s East Piazza until 24th October.
‘Take my lightning but don’t steal my thunder’ combines art, architecture and theatre design, blurring familiarity with fantasy to transform an ordinary everyday view of Covent Garden’s Piazza into the extraordinary. Inspired by the performance culture that’s synonymous with the neighbourhood, the 29-year old artist and his team have conjured the illusion that a 40-foot-long building has broken from its stone base and floated over 10 feet into the air with apparent and astonishing weightlessness.
“My objective was to create an accessible artwork that makes a harmonious but breath-taking contribution to its historic surroundings, leaving a lasting and positive impression upon the cultural landscape of Covent Garden and in the minds of its many visitors”, said Alex Chinneck. “The hovering building introduces contemporary art to traditional architecture, performing a magic trick of spectacular scale to present the everyday world in an extraordinary way”.
Alex Chinneck’s ‘Take my lightning but don’t steal my thunder’ will be on display daily on the East Piazza of Covent Garden from 2nd – 24th October 2014.
all images courtesy of ALEX CHINNECK – video courtesy of THREEFOLD