New sculpture from artist Alex Chinneck and Vauxhall
Motors revealed at Southbank Centre
‘Alex Chinneck for Vauxhall Motors: Pick yourself up and pull yourself together.’
Thursday 19th February, British artist Alex Chinneck today revealed his latest illusory artwork in
collaboration with Vauxhall Motors. Following 2014’s ‘floating building’ in Covent Garden, ‘Pick
yourself up and pull yourself together’ sees the artist suspend a new Vauxhall Corsa, 15 feet in the
air at London’s Southbank Centre.
The collaboration with Vauxhall Motors turns a parking space on its head, peeling back 15 metres of
arching tarmac to turn a one tonne car upside-down as the vehicle grips the curling road with no
visible support.
Vauxhall Motors commissioned Chinneck to create a piece inspired by the new Corsa, which was
launched earlier this year with a campaign based on an A-Z of British motoring. The gravity defying
feat can be found in Southbank Centre Car Park, beside The London Eye, until Wednesday 25th
February 2015.
Speaking on the artwork, Alex Chinneck said, “I see sculpture as the physical reinterpretation of the
material world around us and so by introducing fictional narratives into familiar scenarios, I try to
make everyday situations as extraordinary as they can be. I choose to do this through illusions
because I think there is something both optimistic and captivating about defying the realms of
possibility.”
“With an effortlessly curling road I hoped to transcend the material nature of tarmac and stone,
giving these typically inflexible materials an apparent fluidity. Vauxhall Motors allowed me a great
amount of creative freedom and this collaboration offered my studio an exciting platform to explore
new areas of engineering and fabrication”.
After making Covent Garden hover with 2014’s ‘Take My Lightning, But Don’t Steal my Thunder’ and
‘A Pound of Flesh for 50p’ where a house in Southwark gradually melted to the ground, Alex wanted
to create a public installation of significant sculptural and theatrical impact, which complimented the
new Corsa’s design.
Commenting on the commission, Mark Adams, Head of Design at Vauxhall Motors said: “The
installation certainly celebrates the new Corsa as a ball of energy – a small car with a big heart. Alex
Chinneck’s work is astounding, he’s an amazing British sculptor who creates illusionary structures
with the most in-depth engineering and design. Above all, the astonishing rip curl embodies the fun
people have driving the much-loved Vauxhall Corsa.”
As well as Alex himself, the sculpture has been produced by a team of structural engineers, steel
benders, scenic artists, metal workers, carpenters, tarmac layers and road painters, creating an
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object that was designed to occupy the absolute maximum UK road-legal dimensions so it can be
installed overnight.
“Simple in concept yet structurally, technically and logistically complex, this project looks to deliver
an experience that can be appreciated by different people for different reasons. While I am most
excited by the hidden engineering and complex manipulation of concealed steel, others will simply
enjoy the accessible theatricality of the illusion at play,” said Alex Chinneck.
Vauxhall Motors has worked with documentary director Chris Tubbs to create both a behind-thescenes film, offering insights into how the project developed and a time-lapse of the piece’s
installation. To view both visit www.vauxhall.co.uk/alexchinneck.
‘Alex Chinneck for Vauxhall Motors: Pick yourself up and pull yourself together’ is currently running
from Thursday 19th February until Wednesday 25th February at the Southbank Centre Car Park.
Address:
Southbank Centre Car Park
Hungerford Bridge
Belvedere Road
London, SE1 8XX
Vauxhall Motors recently launched the ‘A to Z of Corsa’, an affectionate nod and rebellious take on
the Vauxhall Corsa, which has sold over 1.8 million vehicles in its 22 years on the road.
For more information please contact Kate Oyler on 07903 069945 or kate.oyler@vauxhall.co.uk.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors has been manufacturing vehicles in the UK continuously since 1903 and has recently launched
the Vauxhall ADAM, Mokka and Cascada. Vauxhall’s range spans all mainstream sectors of the vehicle market
with best-selling model names such as Corsa, Astra, Meriva, Zafira and Insignia regularly topping the sales
charts. Vauxhall is also the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the UK and its parent company
General Motors’ 4th largest global market.
Vauxhall employs over 4500 in the UK and exports over 70% of its production. It is headquartered in Luton,
Bedfordshire with manufacturing plants in the town (Vivaro van production) and Ellesmere Port in Cheshire
(Astra production). www.vauxhall.co.uk.
Media should follow @vauxhallmedia for the latest news or visit www.media.vauxhall.co.uk
About Vauxhall Corsa
The new Corsa raises class benchmark for driveability, comfort and practicality. Priced from £8,995 on-theroad the list price has been reduced by up to £3,000 despite huge quality leap. The engine portfolio includes
a state-of-the-art new 1.0-litre ECOTEC engine with an improved 1.3 CDTi engine which achieves 88.3mpg
and 85g/km. IntelliLink connectivity is available as standard on most models and more comfort offered with
heated seats, steering wheel and windscreen. The Corsa Sting R with new 1.0-litre ECOTEC engine is
available from £10,995.
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About Alex Chinneck
Alex Chinneck is a British artist and designer who lives and works in London. Uniting art, architecture, theatre
and engineering, his public installations are considerable in scale and ambition. Each of Chinneck’s projects are
conceived in response to the place in which they stand and so they are unique and belonging to their location.
Over the past three years the artist has realised a continuous succession of projects that have repeatedly
captured international admiration and attention.
These include using 1248 pieces of glass to create the illusion that 312 windows of a dilapidated factory in
Hackney had been identically smashed and cracked, sliding the entire brick facade from a seaside house in
Margate into the front garden of the property, inverting two four-storey buildings beside Blackfriars bridge,
constructing a full size house from 7500 wax bricks that proceeded to melt over 30 days and creating the
illusion that a stone building upon Covent Garden Piazza had miraculously levitated into the air.
Still under thirty years of age, the artist is one of the youngest members of the Royal British Society of
sculptors and is currently working with countless companies across British industry, engineering and
manufacturing to develop innovative and accessible public projects.
About The Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, comprising three iconic buildings (Royal Festival Hall,
Queen Elizabeth Hall and Hayward Gallery) and occupying a 21-acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most
vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and
architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain.
Building on this rich heritage, Southbank Centre offers an extensive artistic and cultural programme including
annual and one-off themed festivals and classical and contemporary music, performance, dance, visual art and
literature and spoken word events throughout the year. www.southbankcentre.co.uk
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