A giant inverted electric pylon? Take a drone’s eye view

By Matthew Ponsford and Lewis Whyld, CNN
2 minute read
Updated 12:00 PM EDT, Mon September 21, 2015
<a href="http://alexchinneck.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Alex Chinneck</a> has created <em>A bullet from a shooting star</em> -- a 35-metre tall, upside-down electricity pylon -- on Greenwich Peninsula, London. See our exclusive drone camera video below. <br /><br />Here, Chinneck gives an inside view of his creative process with captions from a selection of<a href="https://instagram.com/alexchinneck/" target="_blank" target="_blank"> photographs from his popular social media feed</a>.
Alex Chinneck has created A bullet from a shooting star -- a 35-metre tall, upside-down electricity pylon -- on Greenwich Peninsula, London. See our exclusive drone camera video below.

Here, Chinneck gives an inside view of his creative process with captions from a selection of photographs from his popular social media feed.
LEON NEAL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
"Our forthcoming project, <em>A bullet from a shooting star,</em> contains 1,186 metres of steel and over 1,000 bolts." says Chinneck. "The structure is particularly complex and over 50 engineering drawings have been generated for its manufacture. I always find charm and timelessness in these technical visuals."
"Our forthcoming project, A bullet from a shooting star, contains 1,186 metres of steel and over 1,000 bolts." says Chinneck. "The structure is particularly complex and over 50 engineering drawings have been generated for its manufacture. I always find charm and timelessness in these technical visuals."
alex chinneck instagram
"We once removed every window pane from the dilapidated facade of a 1950's factory and created the illusion that its 312 windows had been identically smashed and cracked using 1,248 pieces of glass. This East London building has since been demolished and so these visuals are all that remain. The intervention was titled Telling the truth through false teeth."
"We once removed every window pane from the dilapidated facade of a 1950's factory and created the illusion that its 312 windows had been identically smashed and cracked using 1,248 pieces of glass. This East London building has since been demolished and so these visuals are all that remain. The intervention was titled Telling the truth through false teeth."
alex chinneck instagram
"This was a 2-metre model we produced when preparing to slide the facade from a red brick property. I like to create material studies before attempting projects on an architectural scale. We later realised our ambition on a three-storey house in Margate in an outdoor project titled <em>From the knees of my nose to the belly of my toes</em>. "
"This was a 2-metre model we produced when preparing to slide the facade from a red brick property. I like to create material studies before attempting projects on an architectural scale. We later realised our ambition on a three-storey house in Margate in an outdoor project titled From the knees of my nose to the belly of my toes. "
alex chinneck instagram
"In contrast yet in relation to my typically large-scale artworks, we are presently developing a limited edition series of small domestic sculptures, which will soon be available from <a href="http://alexchinneck.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">alexchinneck.com</a>. This knotted length of ash is a prototype for a member of that series."
"In contrast yet in relation to my typically large-scale artworks, we are presently developing a limited edition series of small domestic sculptures, which will soon be available from alexchinneck.com. This knotted length of ash is a prototype for a member of that series."
alex chinneck instagram
"In 2012 I inverted a thatched roof for a rural commission titled <em>Under the thumb to hide from the fingers</em>. The roof seemingly stood on its weathervane and slowly turned in the wind."
"In 2012 I inverted a thatched roof for a rural commission titled Under the thumb to hide from the fingers. The roof seemingly stood on its weathervane and slowly turned in the wind."
alex chinneck instagram
"A photographer named Chris Tubbs documents each of my projects. He took this photo when we were on the Greenwich Peninsula while I explained the concept for my next sculpture with a small railway model."
"A photographer named Chris Tubbs documents each of my projects. He took this photo when we were on the Greenwich Peninsula while I explained the concept for my next sculpture with a small railway model."
alex chinneck instagram
"In 2014 my studio created a full size two-storey house that melted over 45 days. We built the structure from 7,500 wax bricks, wax windows and doors. This is a detail image of the unravelling architecture, which was tiled<em> A pound of flesh for 50p."</em>
"In 2014 my studio created a full size two-storey house that melted over 45 days. We built the structure from 7,500 wax bricks, wax windows and doors. This is a detail image of the unravelling architecture, which was tiled A pound of flesh for 50p."
alex chinneck instagram
"The steel for our forthcoming project, which contains 15 tonnes of the material, has been manufactured and supplied by Tata Steel, the last remaining steel plant in the UK. I recently visited the mill recently and was astounded by the scale of the operation. This image was taken in the longest building in the UK."
"The steel for our forthcoming project, which contains 15 tonnes of the material, has been manufactured and supplied by Tata Steel, the last remaining steel plant in the UK. I recently visited the mill recently and was astounded by the scale of the operation. This image was taken in the longest building in the UK."
alex chinneck instagram
"I recently created the illusion that a strip of tarmac had been torn from the road, from which a car hung upside-down. I like to create fluidity in typically inflexible materials."
"I recently created the illusion that a strip of tarmac had been torn from the road, from which a car hung upside-down. I like to create fluidity in typically inflexible materials."
alex chinneck instagram
"To accompany the outdoor project we are currently producing for the Greenwich Peninsula, we have also conceived an indoor sculpture titled <em>Straight jacket star jumps</em>. For this we three-dimensionally modelled the interior architecture of the glass atrium of Now Gallery and designed a structure to fit it exactly. We digitally modelled a 21-metre electricity pylon and rolled it into a ball to fit the space like a ship in a bottle. The object is extraordinarily challenging, containing over 400 parts, each with a unique radius and arc length. This indoor sculpture, like the accompanying outdoor project, will launch on September 19th on the Greenwich Peninsula as part of London Design Festival 2015."
"To accompany the outdoor project we are currently producing for the Greenwich Peninsula, we have also conceived an indoor sculpture titled Straight jacket star jumps. For this we three-dimensionally modelled the interior architecture of the glass atrium of Now Gallery and designed a structure to fit it exactly. We digitally modelled a 21-metre electricity pylon and rolled it into a ball to fit the space like a ship in a bottle. The object is extraordinarily challenging, containing over 400 parts, each with a unique radius and arc length. This indoor sculpture, like the accompanying outdoor project, will launch on September 19th on the Greenwich Peninsula as part of London Design Festival 2015."
alex chinneck instagram
"In 2013 we inverted two buildings beside Blackfriars Bridge. These buildings have since been demolished so these visuals are all that remain. This project was titled <em>Under the weather but over the moon</em>."
"In 2013 we inverted two buildings beside Blackfriars Bridge. These buildings have since been demolished so these visuals are all that remain. This project was titled Under the weather but over the moon."
alex chinneck instagram
"For Clerkenwell Design Week 2015 I produced this small installation at the Material's Library using 1,000 wax bricks. The work is titled <em>A hole in a bag of nerves</em> and can still be visited."
"For Clerkenwell Design Week 2015 I produced this small installation at the Material's Library using 1,000 wax bricks. The work is titled A hole in a bag of nerves and can still be visited."
alex chinneck instagram
"During a site visit I recently discovered this skip, which had an utterly accidental charm. My favourite paintings are always those created with time and without intent."
"During a site visit I recently discovered this skip, which had an utterly accidental charm. My favourite paintings are always those created with time and without intent."
alex chinneck instagram
"These alphabetically ordered drums contain emergency water reserves for Tata Steel, the last remaining steel mill in the UK. We recently visited this plant while they manufactured the steel for our forthcoming project."
"These alphabetically ordered drums contain emergency water reserves for Tata Steel, the last remaining steel mill in the UK. We recently visited this plant while they manufactured the steel for our forthcoming project."
alex chinneck instagram
"My favourite escape from London is Dungeness. It is a perfectly dilapidated landscape. Time is the greatest manipulator of material, not sculptors."
"My favourite escape from London is Dungeness. It is a perfectly dilapidated landscape. Time is the greatest manipulator of material, not sculptors."
alex chinneck instagram
"This is a detail of a limited edition screen print my studio has produced to accompany our forthcoming project, A bullet from a shooting star. The edition of 100 will be available from <a href="http://alexchinneck.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">www.alexchinneck.com</a> from 19.09.15."
"This is a detail of a limited edition screen print my studio has produced to accompany our forthcoming project, A bullet from a shooting star. The edition of 100 will be available from www.alexchinneck.com from 19.09.15."
alex chinneck
Instaview: Behind the scenes with master illusionist Alex Chinneck

Story highlights

Alex Chinneck has built an upside-down electricity pylon

It weighs 15 tonnes and visitors can stand underneath it from September 19

Watch our exclusive drone video

CNN  — 

Take an everyday electricity pylon, flip it upside-down, and stand it on its end. Suddenly the everyday becomes extraordinary.

Alex Chinneck, the theatrical 30-year-old British artist behind hovering architecture and melting houses, dreamed of this remarkable illusion, but thought it might never happen.

“There’s always moments where I think my initial ideas aren’t possible,” says Chinneck . “But if I didn’t think that there would be no point in doing them in the first place.”

A bullet from a shooting star, his breathtaking new 35m-tall sculpture in Greenwich, London, opens to the public on 19 September. It weighs 15 tonnes, comprises 1,186 meters of steel, has foundations stretching 25 meters undergrounds, and is held in place by a 120 tonne concrete weight and 350 tonnes of rubble. But Chinneck makes it look effortless.

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A drone's view of Alex Chinneck's electric pylon
01:39 - Source: CNN

“This illusion of weightlessness and elegance was always a guiding concern and inspiration,” the artist says.

Chinneck’s previous illusions include Take My Lighting, But Don’t Steal my Thunder – the polystyrene building floating above Covent Garden – and A Pound of Flesh for 50p, a Georgian house made of wax that gradually melted into a pool.

A bullet has been commissioned to mark the launch of London Design Festival, the 9-day program of events and exhibitions that takes place in London each September. Immediately across the river from the capital’s financial district of Canary Wharf, Chinneck says every projects takes inspiration from its location.

“I came out here and the light out here is incredible. It’s so uninterrupted by architecture. And because it travels by the Thames, there’s some kind of reflection. It silhouettes every object in its bath, so I wanted to create something that would silhouette very beautifully.”

“The nice thing about the peninsula, with these 360 degree views, is it offers a multitude of backdrops, and every viewpoint tells a different story.”

The sculpture can already be seen from passing cars, buses, and Thames boat services, and be glimpsed , says Chinneck, from airplanes landing at London’s City airport and the cable-cars that now ferry tourists over the river. From 19 September visitors can travel to the empty patch of post-industrial scrub land near North Greenwich train station and the former Millennium Dome to get the best view of all: standing under the pylon – all 15 tonnes of it.