A spectacular sculpture by British artist, Richard Wilson, is to hang in the planned, redesigned space of Heathrow’s Terminal 2. ‘Slipstream’, a work of art
with a visibly aeronautical identity, will be unveiled in 2014, the programmed completion date of the terminal.
The concept is of the movement of a stunt plane, captured in the split second of a photographic lens, as it undulates, twist and turns in the sky. Working from his initial sketches, the artist collaborated with structural engineers, Price & Myers and specialist fabricators, Commercial Systems International in order to translate his design into a 3D reality.
With a wooden frame and plywood cover, the piece will be coated with aluminum to provide the desired aesthetic appeal to be fully integrated within the architecture of the terminal. The gigantic sculpture, which will be suspended 20 meters above the ground from the central atrium of the concourse, will be 70 metres in length and weigh 77 tonnes, clearly the longest piece of any permanent exhibition in Europe and it is likely to become the most viewed.
The artist states: ‘It is a journey from A to B, where sensations of velocity, acceleration and deceleration follow us at every undulation.’
