The floating market of Covent Garden: Find out how artist created this stunning optical illusion which makes building appear to have broken free from its foundations
- Trick makes it seem a section of market building has broken free from foundations in London's Covent Garden
- Stunning optical illusion shows top section of a building appearing to float in mid-air high above passers-by
- The display, which imitates architecture in the area, took three months to make and 500 hours of painting
- Artist Alex Chinneck created illusion using heavy counterweight strong enough to support the top section
This is the stunning optical illusion that appears to make a building at one of London's busiest tourist districts hover in mid-air.
To passers-by, it looks as though a section of the historic market building in Covent Garden has broken free from its foundations and is floating unaided, high above them.
But in reality, the display, which imitates the architecture in the area, is a complicated piece of technical wizardry which took months to create.
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Illusion: A woman looks up at the top section of the building in London's Covent Garden as it appears to hover unaided above its foundations, its walls seemingly ripped apart through the middle
Technical wizardry: A man walks under the top section of the building as it appears to hover unaided in mid-air while a woman examines the optical illusion from further away
The installation, named Take my Lightning but Don't steal my Thunder, was created by the artist Alex Chinneck (pictured), who is well known for creating optical illusions
To passers-by it seems as though the building has been torn off and is levitating with a large gap between the broken 'stone' walls, pillars and doors
The installation, named Take my Lightning but Don't steal my Thunder, was created by the artist Alex Chinneck, who is well known for creating optical illusions.
It seems as though the 184-year-old market building has been torn off and is levitating with a large gap between the broken 'stone' walls, pillars and doors.
The 12-metre-long sculpture has been made from a steel frame and a type of expanded polystyrene called filcor.
It is understood to have taken 500 hours to paint using special digital techniques and was designed to resemble the existing architecture in the area.
The structure itself has been going up since the weekend using cranes, a number of trucks and cherry pickers.
The 12-metre-long sculpture has been made from a steel frame and a type of expanded polystyrene called filcor. It is understood to have taken 500 hours to paint using special digital techniques and was designed to resemble the existing architecture in the area
Although it is his most ambitious project to date, it is not the first piece of trickery Mr Chinneck has created. In the past, using similar techniques, he appeared to have turned a house upside down in Southwark, London
The illusion of it floating is created by a four-tonne counterweight strong enough to support the top half of the structure as it hangs over the bottom half
Finishing touches: Men on cherry-pickers work on the upper levels of the artwork, while another man stands on top of the green stall that acts as a counterweight
A couple try to work out how the building appears to float in mid-air. Take my Lightning but Don’t Steal my Thunder and will be on display in Covent Garden East Piazza until October 24
The illusion of it floating is created by using a heavy counterweight strong enough to support the top half of the structure as it hangs over the bottom half.
A steel beam is hidden inside the green market stall to the side of the building and this is attached to a steel platform and a 12-metre cantilever.
Although it is his most ambitious project to date, it is not the first piece of trickery Mr Chinneck has created. In the past, using similar techniques, he appeared to have turned a house upside down in Southwark, London.
Under construction: Workers in hard hats and hi-vis jackets work through the night on the work of art, layering plaster on the outside to make the stone columns feel real
Perfection: A man checks the paintwork finish on the building, which was designed to exactly match the architecture in the area and enhance the illusion
As if by magic: Workers busy themselves creating the optical illusion, while part of the steel supporting beam attached to the green wagon can be seen, right
He told the Telegraph: 'You can't tell the difference between the fake and the real thing, to touch it, to see it. But it's hovering. It's extraordinarily complicated.
'As long as as many people enjoy it as possible, that's my aim. It's a logistical minefield that you have to navigate to get to a fun conclusion.
'I didn't get into art for that, but that's what I do.'
Take my Lightning but Don’t Steal my Thunder and will be on display in Covent Garden East Piazza until October 24.
The art of illusion: How artist 'melted' one house and appeared to turn another building upside down
Alex Chinneck's latest project in Covent Garden is just his latest venture in messing with archaeology with mind-bending results.
In October last year the Hackney-based artist created a project in Margate called From The Knees Of My Nose To The Belly Of My Toes, which featured the facade of a derelict house appearing to slide off and into the front garden.
The property had recently been purchased by Thanet Council after sitting empty for more than 11 years, and Mr Chinneck persuaded ten companies to donate £100,000 in materials and resources to make the project a reality.
Melting away: In October last year Mr Chinneck also created this installation in Margate, called From The Knees Of My Nose To The Belly Of My Toes
Abandoned: The house had recently been purchased by Thanet Council after being abandoned for 11 years before Mr Chinneck set up his £100,000 project
The year-long installation, which exposed the top floor of the building to the elements, while relocating the front door into the front garden, was inspired by the opening of the new Turner Contemporary gallery. Afterwards the building was returned to the council.
Three months later Mr Chinneck was at it again, this time unveiling an installation called Miner On The Moon on a building in Blackfriars Road, London, which was due to be demolished.
The project made it appear as if the building, a former livery stables hiring out horse and carriages, had flipped upside down.
At the time,Mr Chinneck said: 'I'm keen on this idea that when people go to an art gallery they go there through choice and they enter into that experience.
Flip side: This former livery stables on Blackfriars Road in London appeared to have been flipped on its head in another of Mr Chinneck's artworks
Disused: Like his previous project in Margate, Mr Chinneck picked the building as it was about to be demolished and said it's shape inspired the upside down design
'But with public sculpture, people don't necessarily make that choice - they may not like the artwork or may not want the artwork and therefore I think it's important for the work to be able to disappear and not dominate its environment, but be harmonious with the environment.
'For that reason I used only the materials which feature across Southwark and Blackfriars so although the artwork is quite bold it also has subtlety and the ability to camouflage into its environment.'
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
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