KIT Sculpture

Following an open invitation and competition process in excess of 80 artists submitted applications and design concepts from which an artist from East London, Tony Stallard, was selected for his ‘KIT’ sculpture proposal and based on a child’s air fix model kit version of the Titanic ship as a celebration of the design and engineering history in the city of Belfast. The proposal included bronze castings of the former ship in elemental form and in proportional scale to the former ship with the various pieces of propellers, funnels and the like as part of the ‘kit’ assemblage. The main steel frame structure, approximately 150ft tall by 12ft wide was to be manufactured by Harland and Wolff, Belfast who would assemble the entire sculpture in the former ship yard and be responsible for erecting the piece on site.

Procurement

The development took place over many months through concept development, mock-ups and maquette including sample bronze castings made of the former ship from polystyrene formwork. The castings were made in England by Morris Singer Art Founders and following assembly by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, the sculpture was erected with the close support and insistence of Harcourt Construction (NI) Ltd and launched as part of the Queen’s Festival in October 2009.

Awards/Press

The sculpture received widespread coverage on television, newspapers and general media as well as in the architectural press and has been featured recently in the RSUA Perspective Magazine September/October 2010.