No, we're not in them but we did have a coach trip to visit some of the locations the weekend before Easter. Our visit was split between two days and we had a guided tour of the perimetre of the Olympic site (security precautions prevent direct access to the site at the moment), a visit to Royal Greenwich and a visit to the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich which will be the venue for the Shooting events.
The main arena above has been made in part from recycled drainage pipes and can be altered to suit its new purpose after the Olympic Games. Because the Olympic site was due to be built on industrial ground tonnes of toxic soil had to be removed, hence all public access will be at the level of the walkway with the purple buildings. A surprising fact is that the site is bordered by the Victorian Sewage system devised by Joseph Bazalgette which forms a huge bank now called the Greenway from which we had our view of the site.
This wonderful tower is Anish Kapoor's ' Orbit', a sculpture specially designed for the Olympic location. From our viewpoint we could see workmen hanging from the piped structure. I think they were painting, a bit like the Forth Road Bridge.
'Visitors will be able to take a trip up the statuesque structure in a
huge lift and will have the option of walking down the spiralling
staircase.' As the sculpture is higher than the Statue of Liberty the view should be tremendous. If you follow the link for Anish Kapoor you will find further links and more information about this unique artwork.
Had we felt energetic we could all have had the experience of crossing the finishing line through this wonderful (drift)wood sculpture on the Greenway. The organisers are keen to include the Arts in this special event and I was delighted to see an exhibition of mosaics by members of the BAMM
Above - work by Ann Bowles
Norma Vondee Singing Bird
Jan Waddington Flower Basket - Moody Blues
I liked the sculpture above but sadly didn't gather any information about it.
From this location we were taken to the Royal Arsenal by way of the Woolwich Ferry.
This is one of the temporary buildings that will be home to the shooting events.
The trip across on the ferry was interesting! I'm glad our coach had good brakes!
An unexpected bonus of visiting the Royal Arsenal was this sculpture at the end of an open plaza.
The sculptor is Peter Burke and it was very eerie walking among the figures.
Is it solid? Is it shadow?
I think I've exhausted Blogger and you so I'll end with this great slogan I saw in the bar at the Royal Arsenal. The two heads at the bottom of the photo are playing Monopoly using a digital card machine as the bank. Who would have thought?
To be continued.....
11 April Post amended to add links to London 2012 site.
11 April Post amended to add links to London 2012 site.
9 comments:
What a fascinating trip and super photos. The very thought of having to paint that sculpture cum tower made me feel giddy, but I love the mosaics and the figures.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us Julie. Some fascinating insight. Anish Kapoor's Ascension was on Venice 24/7 the other week and it was really moving.
how on earth did you manage to get that many photos on blogger?thankyou for your kind thoughts ...tina
Great trip and commentary, Julie!
I can't imagine being one of the workers working on that staircase...frightening job, it would seem.
Great photos!
Hugs and warmest smiles,
Jackie
Thank you very much for these great photos. I meet next week a friend who worked in the construction of the Olympic Stadium, I can tell him that I saw a picture ....
wowww........... great picture..!!!
hello, where can i watch Olympics 2012 streaming?
What a fantastic trip, I didn't know about all that... I had no idea it was so interesting!
Have you seen the Anish Kapoor mirror in Nottingham? If you haven't, we must meet up and I'll take you there.
XX
Lovely mosaics.
The orbit reminds me of the dreadful creeping red weed in The War Of The Worlds though!
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