Home | Burning Man Sculptures – Chatsworth House

16th May 2022

Burning Man Sculptures – Chatsworth House

Posted by: Eliomar Delgado / under:

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No two days are ever the same at Williams Shipping.

Their transport team was asked to move 2 enormous sculptures for an upcoming exhibition at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. The 2 sculptures will form part of an exhibition called “Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man at Chatsworth”

Burning Man usually takes place in Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. Whilst most of the sculptures could be containerised and moved, the two largest ones needed specialist handling and transportation.

Coordinating this enormous logistical challenge, were Rockit Global. They are a global network of logistics specialists – helping to bring creative visions to life. They specialise in handling complex and time-sensitive logistics for performing arts, music, sports and trade shows. Williams Shipping were the perfect logistics partner. Firstly, their location close to Southampton docks was important. They are a diverse logistics business, which for this project was perfect. Their transport division provided HIAB trucks, a range of trailers, including wafer deck and flatbed trailers and a wealth of experience in transporting abnormal and out of gauge loads, and their marine division, situated in Southampton’s eastern docks, was able to provide quayside, craneage and storage facilities for Rockit Global.

Burning Man

The Sculptures

1. Lodestar by Randy Polumbo:
a 50-ft-high sculpture made from a 1940 Lockheed Lodestar WW2 military jet adorned with hand-blown glass flowers made from mercury and silver-plated glass lit with LED lights and electronics

In order for Williams Shipping to transport the sculpture, it had to be broken down into the following parts: 2 legs; 2 pads; fuselage; 2 domes, transported in 5 different loads.

The most challenging part of the sculpture was the fuselage. It required careful planning and handling – something that Williams Shipping’s specialist transport team have great experience in. With the delicate fuselage, great care needed to be taken – no straps could be placed around the fuselage otherwise the aluminium could be scratched, scuffed or worse, collapse.

Rockit Global sent jacks and a custom-made wide spreader bar, ensuring that the straps could safely secure the load without damaging the plane. As Nick from Rockit Global said: “Think of it like a car with the wheels off, there are little I beam stubs that the jacks connect to that both mechanically fasten the fuselage and allow it to be placed on the ground at unload and on flat bed without scuffing or scratching.  
The trestle / jack stands go on when the plane is still standing and don’t come off until it is stood up again. Rockit Global also had a big 8 x 8×5’ rectangular jig that allows us to put the dome together, and put the petals on, on the ground.

2. Flybrary by Christina Sporrong

This sculpture was in 5 different bundles, ranging in weight from 700kgs to over 2000 kgs, with varying widths, lengths and heights, so again, careful planning was needed, resulting in 3 different loads, utilising flatbed and wafer deck trailers and HIAB trucks.

 

Burning Man – what is it and why is it coming to Chatsworth?

Burning Man is a unique event that usually takes place annually in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA.  It serves as “a model for fostering dynamic and sustainable interactions with the surrounding environment and promoting radical self-expression”. Although it’s a temporary event, Burning Man emphasizes adaptation to a radically hostile environment.

This year, Chatsworth has collaborated with the Burning Man team and artists to bring its culture of possibility and creativity to the Derbyshire landscape. Featuring 12 sculptures; 8 existing and 4 that will be built on site. Three of the site specific sculptures will be created with the help of local community groups and visitors, in the spirit of the build process at Burning Man, where it is a collaborative event, volunteers working alongside artists to create new artworks.

This is a free event, accessible to everyone and it runs from 9th April – 1st October 2022. Further information about Burning Man is available on their website, and full details of the exhibition can be found on the Chatsworth website.

Chatsworth

Chatsworth is home to the Devonshire family. It is situated in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside in the Peak District. It has been home to 16 generations of the family and is renowned for its architecture, garden, art and hospitality.

With 25 rooms in the house to explore, and 105 acres of gardens, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

For more information on our transport work, visit our transport page or call our team to learn about our logistics solutions on 023 8070 1314

 

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