Hove Plinth
Flight of the Langoustine
by Pierre Diamantopoulo MRSS
.Flight of the Langoustine is the second sculpture for Hove Plinth. It is created by Brighton based sculptor Pierre Diamantopoulo. The sculpture, selected from our first call to artists, was a clear favourite with the public. It is made up of four life-size bronze figures flying through a steel grid. It was inspired by a discarded and mangled lobster pot that the artist had found on Brighton beach. In his imagination, the washed-up object that had seemingly helped the lobsters escape, translated itself into a wider story of human exodus and release – a dash for freedom. Diamantopoulo describes the figures as “at once profound, frivolous and boisterous, occupying the air like a flock of birds and inspired by modern dance choreography”.
The four lifesize figures were designed and sculpted over a period of three years, followed by bronze casting at Milwyn Foundry and fabrication of the steel grid and assembly by Art Fabrications. The sculpture weighs 2.2 tonnes and measures approximately 3.5 metres high and 3 meters wide.
Flight of the Langoustine was inaugurated on the Hove Plinth on 17 September 2023. The videos and pictures below show the many stages involved in creating the sculpture
Model of Sculpture
Armature stage
Polystyrene stage
A few moments in the making
Sculpting hand
Sculpting figures
Moulds and waxes
After the the sculpting had been completed the Milwyn Foundry took moulds of the figures which were then used to produce exact wax copies of the original models. The wax copies were then coated in several layers of ceramic shell.
Bronze casting
‘The figures were cast using ‘the lost wax method’. The wax is melted out of the shell and molten bronze is poured into the space created, replacing the wax and forming the bronze sculpture.
Fabrication and Installation
The fabrication of the steel grid and the fixture of the figures within was completed during June- August 2023 at Art Fabrication in Nuneaton and installed on the Hove Plinth in September.
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