Originally published at: Edmonton man rescued from public sculpture made of 1,000 stainless steel balls | Boing Boing
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Rule 1: always secure your line of retreat.
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There’s nominative determinism for you.
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This is the adult version of getting your head stuck in a banister.
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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)
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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.
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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”.
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Or, you could not become a dictator as that’s always a really bad idea.
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That was an option? Why did none of my craven lackeys ever tell me?!
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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.
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After being extricated from the sculpture, the man was immediately arrested and charged with one count of mischief.
That sounds very Canadian.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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hah! beat me to it!
i was just looking up the WD Concert Hall in LA!
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Oh, Canada.
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