Edmonton man rescued from public sculpture made of 1,000 stainless steel balls

Originally published at: Edmonton man rescued from public sculpture made of 1,000 stainless steel balls | Boing Boing

6 Likes

Rule 1: always secure your line of retreat.

16 Likes

There’s nominative determinism for you.

15 Likes

image

19 Likes

This is the adult version of getting your head stuck in a banister.

9 Likes

11 Likes

You mean the rising pile of skeletons was not part an intentional part of the art piece? How disappointing.

(adding a note to my ‘when I become dictator’ list)

5 Likes

And yet this is still less dangerous of a sculpture than the stainless steel polished 15 foot parabolic mirror that was on the U of Calgary’s campus in the early 2000’s, which then had to be “roughed up” because it flash-cooked a few birds that flew through the focal point on a sunny day.
Alberta seems to have a questionable relationship with reflective sculptures.

15 Likes
10 Likes

Also

During the building’s construction, it was discovered that for a period of up to two hours each day if the sun shines directly onto the building, it acts as a concave mirror and focuses light onto the streets to the south. Spot temperature readings at street-level including up to 91 °C (196 °F) and 117 °C (243 °F) were observed during summer 2013, when the reflection of a beam of light up to six times brighter than direct sunlight shining onto the streets beneath damaged parked vehicles, including one on Eastcheap whose owner was paid £946 by the developers for repairs to melted bodywork. Temperatures in direct line with the reflection became so intense that City A.M. reporter Jim Waterson managed to fry an egg in a pan set out on the ground. The reflection also burned or scorched the doormat of a shop in the affected area. The media responded by dubbing the building the “Walkie-Scorchie” and “Fryscraper”.

12 Likes

Or, you could not become a dictator as that’s always a really bad idea.

10 Likes

That was an option? Why did none of my craven lackeys ever tell me?!

15 Likes

If you insist on having a ‘when I become dictator’ list, then the first thing on it should always be ‘Abolish the dictatorship’. After that nothing else on the list matters.

7 Likes

After being extricated from the sculpture, the man was immediately arrested and charged with one count of mischief.

That sounds very Canadian.

8 Likes

I wonder how often actual engineers are involved with public art that has the potential to be climbed. ‘Art Engineer’ sounds like a cool job.

5 Likes

In Las Vegas, Nevada, the Wynn Hotel works similarly. At least it doesn’t focus on a public street. Maybe it even helps with some solar power collecting.
image

6 Likes

14 Likes

Frank Gehry (“a great artist unfortunately working in architecture” lol) has built at least one death ray building.
I dislike highly reflective structures, as they can trigger migraines.

5 Likes

hah! beat me to it!
i was just looking up the WD Concert Hall in LA!

5 Likes

Oh, Canada.

7 Likes