Column's website goes live

Anthony McCall, 'Column' imagined rising from Wirral Waters, 2009. Credit: Anthony McCall

The team behind Column, a new public sculpture by British-born, New York-based artist Anthony McCall, today launched a dedicated website for the project.

Column, which was commissioned by Arts Council England as part of our Artists taking the lead initiative, will commence at the end of August 2012 as a London 2012 Festival event and will be installed for one full year.

Column is a vertical, spinning column of cloud, up to twenty metres in diameter, which will rise into the sky from the surface of East Float, Wirral Waters, on the edge of the Mersey and directly opposite the city of Liverpool.

The sculpture will ascend up to and beyond cloud base and will disappear and reappear as well as present itself in different ways, in response to weather and light conditions.

Column's website contains a wealth of information - including photographs, moving imagery and video interviews - about the artwork, its construction and location, about the artist Anthony McCall and the team behind the project, and about Column's education programme.

The project team is now completing the final phases of building and testing. The structure which produces Column will be towed to its East Float site in mid-August and visible testing will begin around that date. Locals will be able to see Column starting to form and can watch it gradually growing to its full strength and height over the following weeks.

Artist Anthony McCall said: 'Essentially, Column is just a vertical line drawn in the sky. What that line looks like will shift from hour to hour, in response to the changes in the weather - it's a chameleon.'

Born in 1946, Anthony McCall has emerged as one of the important artists of his generation and his work has been shown in museums throughout the world. Column is his largest and most ambitious project to date and a continuation of years of sculptural and cinematic installations based on mist, projection and light.

Column was chosen as the North West's Artists taking the lead commission because of its originality and innovation. It will run for a full 12 months, for the people of Merseyside and beyond to experience and enjoy and as a legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Visit Column's website to find out more about the artwork and to watch video interviews with Anthony McCall and the scientist John McNulty.

As well as Column, there are many more Cultural Olympiad activities taking place throughout the summer across the North West. Visit nwfor2012.com to find out more and to join the WE PLAY Challenge.

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