Tees Valley Giants

Temenos viewed from north west, with Middlesbrough F.C. Riverside Stadium shown in background.

Coordinates: 54°34′49″N 1°13′18″W / 54.5803°N 1.2216°W / 54.5803; -1.2216 The Tees Valley Giants was intended as a £15 million series of five art installations by sculptor Anish Kapoor and structural designer Cecil Balmond.[1][2] The artwork was planned to be created in the towns of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Stockton on Tees in the Tees Valley area of England.[3] The project was launched in July 2008 by Tees Valley Regeneration.[4] If completed, the project would become the world's biggest public art project.[5]

The structures

Five structures were planned: however only one, Temenos, has been unveiled.[6][7]

Temenos

Temenos was the first sculpture for the Tees Valley Giants project to be announced.[8] It is approximately 110 m long and 50 m high and cost £2.7 million. The steel structure consists of a pole, a circular ring and an oval ring, all held together by steel wire.[9]

The structure is situated in the Middlehaven area of Middlesbrough, close to where the Transporter bridge is located; construction work started in autumn 2008, was completed by spring 2010, and officially presented to the people of Middlesbrough on June 10, 2010.[10] The name 'Temenos' comes from the Ancient Greek (τέμενος < τέμνω, temno, to cut) term for land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, a sanctuary, holy grove or holy precinct.

Temenos was funded by the Government Initiative, The Northern Way, the regional development agency One NorthEast, the Arts Council England, the Northern Rock Foundation, Middlesbrough Football Club and BioRegional Quintain.

Other structures

The other four structures were never formally announced, and in June 2012, the BBC revealed that plans for them had been put on hold: it currently seems unlikely that funding for them will be secured.[11]

References

  1. ↑ BBC news on the Tees Valley Giants
  2. ↑ The Telegraph India discusses Kapoor's and Balmond's work on the Tees Valley Giants
  3. ↑ 3 page article on the Tees Valley Giants
  4. ↑ Launchpage of the Tees Valley Giants
  5. ↑ Northern Echo discusses Tees Valley Giants
  6. ↑ The rings of Temenos: Anish Kapoor in Middlesbrough
  7. ↑ Big in Middlesbrough: Anish Kapoor unveils plans for giant public artwork
  8. ↑ Tees Valley Giants Project Revealed
  9. ↑ Journal Live article on the Tees Valley Giants
  10. ↑ "Huge £2.7m Temenos sculpture unveiled in Middlesbrough". BBC News Website. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Teesside art 'giants' plan axed". BBC. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.

External links

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