Quantum Cloud
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Antony Gormley's Quantum Cloud was commissioned for a site next to the Millennium Dome in London. At 30 metres high, it is Gormley's tallest sculpture to date (taller than the Angel of the North). It is constructed from a collection of tetrahedral units made from 1.5m long sections of steel. The steel section were arranged using a computer model with a random walk algorithm starting from points on the surface of an enlarged figure based on Gormley's body that forms a residual outline at the centre of the sculpture.
The sculpture was completed in 1999 in time for the opening of the Millennium Dome.
The idea for Quantum Cloud came from a comment about algebra made by Basil Hiley, quantum physicist (and long-time colleague of David Bohm), in which he said that "algebra is the relationship of relationships". The comment was made during a conversation between Gormley, Hiley and writer David Peat at a 1999 London gathering of artists and scientists, organized by Peat.
[edit] External links
- Design study from LUSAS software including finite element analysis of the sculptures structure and site construction photographs.
- Project description and photographs by the structural engineering firm that built the structure.
- Interview with Antony Gormley
