Men's Synchronised 10m Platform Diving World Cup

I was fortunate enough to attend the Men's Synchronised 10m Platform Diving World Cup yesterday in the Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Park.

It was a very exciting event and a great opportunity to get a closer look at the Olympic Park. Although, it is clear there is still a lot to be done before the summer you could already feel a buzz in the atmosphere. Anish Kapoor's snaking steel structure dominates the skyline at the park and on a sunny day like yesterday there is a great backdrop of the city behind. 

Never daring to dive from the top diving board myself, I was amazed by the acrobatic diving and precision (in most cases!) The 10m high platform mean that through gravity alone the divers hit the water at speeds of up to 40mph!

The winners of the event, Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan from China most certainly shone but there was a lot of support for Britain's Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield.  There has been criticism of Daley's performance yesterday morning, remarking he is putting too much emphasis on media commitments. Nevertheless, I most certainly look forward to watching this duo perform at the Olympic Games, even if only on the TV. 

Don't forget....the life-sized wire mesh sculpture of Tom Daley by Nikki Taylor will be on display in Bath as part of the city-wide sculpture trail, Sculpture and Sport: a Celebration for 2012 from the 22nd May - 9th September.

Sue Freeborough's Fencing sculpture on the cover of The Bath Magazine.

Art at the Edge sculptures: an image of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2012 has finally come and we excitedly prepare for our celebration of sport and art. We have achieve a lot over the last few years.... The full bronze collection of 30 Olympic and Paralympic sculptures is now complete and we have a diverse collection of guest artists creating powerful and thought-provoking art.

2012 is the year Art at the Edge will exhibit the complete bronze collection in a series of major exhibitions including, The Ashmolean, Oxford, The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath and The Oxo Gallery, London. Furthermore, as the Olympic torch passes through Bath on the 22nd of May, Art at the Edge's public sculpture trail will launch! Incredible life sized sculptures will be located in dramatic setting around Bath so keep your eyes peeled!

To mark the beginning of this much anticipated year, The Bath Magazine chose to feature Sue Freeborough's Fencing sculpture for the cover of their first issue of 2012. If you are in Bath don't forget to pick up a copy of The Bath Magazine or it can be viewed online at: http://issuu.com/mcpublishing/docs/bathmag0112?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

Nikki Taylor's wire mesh sculptures at the Royal United Hospital, Bath

Guest artist, Nikki Taylor has three of her stunning life-size, wire mesh sculptures on display at the Royal United Hospital, Bath. 

The sculptures are located in the hospital as part of their exhibition programme, Art at the Heart of the RUH: http://www.ruh.nhs.uk/art/exhibitions/current.asp?menu_id=202
Art at the Heart presents a high quality programme of arts within the RUH for the benefit of patients, staff and visitors.


The sculptures of Olympic diver Tom Daley and the torso of a female tennis player are on display in the Central Courtyard (Zone B).

Tom Daley by Nikki Taylor

Tennis Girl Torso by Nikki Taylor

The wire mesh sculpture of the 'Bath Bullet', sprinter Jason Gardener can be seen in the Rolling Hills Courtyard (Zone A).

Jason Gardener by Nikki Taylor

To create her sculptures, Nikki takes precise measurements of the athletes and makes the sculptures freehand, moulding the mesh in the air. Below you can see Nikki measuring Jason Gardener at The University of Bath's Sports Training Village in preparation for her sculpture. 

The exhibition at the hospital runs from now until February 2012. 
In the summer of 2012 Nikki's life-sized sculptures amongst others will be on display in the streets of Bath as part of a sport themed sculpture trail, Sculpture and Sport: a Celebration for 2012. 


All the sculptures are for sale and can be purchased through Art at the Edge's online shop: https://www.artattheedge.org/shop/
Profits from the sales of sculptures go to our beneficiaries, The Youth Sport Trust and ParalympicsGB. 

Life- sized Judo sculpture by Sophie Dickens demonstrates the artistry of sculpture and sport

The Sculptor Sophie Dickens has captured the artistic beauty of the perfect Judo throw in an extraordinary life-sized Judo sculpture currently on display at CircleBath, which truly demonstrates the marriage of sport and art. She gave a fascinating talk last week, on the process involved in understanding the dynamics of the sport and creating her sculpture. Her talk was illustrated with a demonstration of the throw by Team Bath Olympic hopeful Jan Gosiewski, British Judo Squad member and European Cup gold medallist, assisted by two young judoka Adam Bolwell and Joda Callan.

Jan had repeated the throw dozens of times for Sophie when she visited Team Bath, at the University of Bath, to sketch and take photographs of the sport before starting work on her sculpture. This allowed her to construct the artwork from shaped pieces of seasoned oak, which really capture the movement in one of the classic winning judo throws ‘Morote Seoinage’ or the two arm shoulder throw.

The project is fund raising to have the life-sized sculpture cast in bronze, with the aim of displaying it both in Bath, prior to the Games and at the ExCel centre, the venue for the judo competition during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This dramatically impressive life-sized sculpture is 2m high, it can be viewed in the reception of CircleBath until the end of the month, where visitors are welcome.

A limited edition bronze of the beautiful maquette sized 'Morote Seoinage' sculpture, which is  currently exhibited in the British Airways First Class Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5, can be  purchased from the online shop at https://www.artattheedge.org/shop/

Profits from the project will be used to benefit disadvantaged or disabled young people through the life changing work of the Youth Sport Trust and ParalympicsGB.

A film of the bronze  judo sculpture can be seen at:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHeUhp6BF8

Project blogs One creative year: studio, birth and motherhood by Briony Marshall

Briony Marshall has created a dynamic maquette 'The Drag Flick' based on Hockey, for our bronze collection.
In December 2010, when 5 months pregnant, Briony was offered and accepted a one year residency at Pangolin London in Kings Cross starting almost immediately. Her fascinating blog charts her attempt to ‘have it all’: a year of focused studio time and a happy growing family life.

http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/1050959/0/2/desc

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP presents prize to Art at the Edge lottery winner

Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport yesterday presented the winner of the first Art at the Edge Lottery with her prize. Tickey Tuppen was the lucky recipient and had chosen  the beautiful Paralympic sprint themed sculpture by Charlotte Barker from the commissioned collection of bronzes. It was inspired by the Paralympic world champion athlete Libby Clegg.

The presentation took place at Trafalgar Sq in sight of the Paralympic countdown clock, which declared it was 350 days to go to the opening on the London Paralympic games in 2012.

Art at the Edge are running a second lottery which will be drawn on the last day of the Paralympic Games, 9th September 2012.
Tickets can be bought online at  https://www.artattheedge.org/news/art-at-the-edge-lottery-2/
The winners prize is their choice of a bronze maquette sculpture from the stunning commissioned  collection of 30 original artworks based on Olympic and Paralympic sports which can all be viewed on the website.

Paralympic sculpture competition winner announced

The winner of the Paralympic sculpture competition was announced today at the Paralympic simulation camp 2011 at the University of Bath . Pete Sherrard was presented with the commission prize of £1000 by Tim Hollingsworth CEO of ParalympicsGB

The judges were impressed by the many creative and diverse entries but Pete's wonderful depiction of wheelchair racing was felt by the judges to really celebrate the dynamic power of Paralympic athletes. 
The sculpture will now be cast in bronze and complete the collection of 30 commissioned sculptures which will be exhibited in Bath, Oxford and London during 2012 to raise money to support disabled and disadvantaged young people though the work of ParalympicsGB and the Youth Sport Trust.