A Spinning Artwork Hovers Over St Pancras

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 81 months ago

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A Spinning Artwork Hovers Over St Pancras

Next time you've got a few minutes to kill at St Pancras station, head up to Platforms 1-4 (or the Eurostar platforms, if you're lucky enough to have a ticket), and look up to the clock behind you to see the station's new artwork.

Three large metal arms spin slowly while the blue lattices on each arm arrange themselves both in and out along each arm.

A close up of the new artwork. Image courtesy the artist, Royal Academy of Arts and Terrace Wires.

This hypnotic artwork is by Conrad Shawcross. If the artist's name seems familiar, it's because he's pretty much everywhere these days, having designed the massive sculpture outside the Crick institute, a robotic arm in the Sci-Fi blockbuster at Barbican and designed the Optic Cloak in Greenwich.

The Terrace Wires project brings artworks into the station. Past projects include a companion clock by Cornelia Parker, a spinning shimmering silver object by Ron Arad and bright blocks by David Batchelor.  

The lattice structures move to the inside of the arms. Image courtesy the artist, Royal Academy of Arts and Terrace Wires.

The new addition by Conrad Shawcross has been compared to a wind turbine and a fidget spinner. Our opinion is it's not Shawcross's finest work as his strength lies in complexity, and this looks like a much simpler work — but it's still great to have something to look at while waiting for a train.

Here they are extended to full width. Image courtesy the artist, Royal Academy of Arts and Terrace Wires.

Conrad Shawcross: The Interpretation of Movement (a 9:8 in blue) is at St Pancras station.

Last Updated 26 June 2017