The Comedy Carpet, by Gordon Young and Indian Ocean Tsunami Memorial, by Carmody Groarke
The Comedy Carpet, by Gordon Young
Sited in front of Blackpool Tower, the 2,200m2 work of art contains over 160,000 granite letters embedded into concrete pushing the boundaries of public art and typography to their limits.
Created by artist Gordon Young, and designed in collaboration with Why Not Associates, the Comedy Carpet is a celebration of comedy on an extraordinary scale. Referring to the work of more than 1,000 comedians and comedy writers, the carpet gives visual form to jokes, songs and catchphrases dating from the early days of variety to the present.
The Comedy Carpet was commissioned by Blackpool Council as part of the regeneration of the sea front. Designed in a cross shape, it links the entrance of the Blackpool Tower to the beach and connects the north and south sides of the promenade.
Indian Ocean Tsunami Memorial, by Carmody Groarke
The 115-tonne 3.7-metre single granite monolith was created by the design team of Carmody Groarke and is located in the Natural History Museum’s Darwin Centre Courtyard. The final setting of the stone has a deliberate architectural relationship between the bold new buildings and landscape of the new Darwin Centre.
The Memorial design reflects the views and feelings of UK survivors and bereaved families.
Within this new public space, the Memorial offers a place for quiet contemplation bringing comfort to those who have lost loved ones in the Tsunami whilst symbolising the powerful and sometimes destructive force of nature.
The raw cuts on the exterior surfaces of the 120 tonne form result directly from the extraction processes of the rock from the quarry.
Kevin Carmody and Andrew Groarke are already well known for the Seventh of July Memorial in Hyde Park and other projects. Their practice works on sculpture, exhibition design, private housing and public spaces.