40 metre Statue of Destiny proposed for Perth
The huge statue 'Destiny" would be taller than the Statue of Liberty and a rival to the much loved Kelpies.
Sculpter David J Mitchell has put forward the exciting proposal for the Perth site and hopes the statue would have visitors flocking to the area to marvel at the art work.
The huge statue 'Destiny" would be taller than the Statue of Liberty and a rival to the much loved Kelpies.
Sculpter David J Mitchell has put forward the exciting proposal for the Perth site and hopes the statue would have visitors flocking to the area to marvel at the art work.
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00:00My name is David Mitchell, I am a sculptor.
00:17Yeah, so this is a wee proposal that I've been putting together for a statue going up
00:24in, just north of Perth.
00:28The idea is that it's going to be a figure of destiny, 40 metres from ground to the top
00:34of her head, which would make her bigger than the Statue of Liberty.
00:40He'd walk up inside her and up into the crown and down the other arm, and then there'd be
00:45a wee viewing platform up here from which you'd be able to see the city.
00:51The guys that are doing all the bridges and this whole revitalisation of the area, they
00:59want a central piece of work for it.
01:01I think they were wanting something on the same scale as the Kelpies.
01:06What sort of timescale are you talking for, from start to finish?
01:09It would take about two years.
01:11The proposal was full bronze, with a weathered Statue of Liberty colour to it.
01:21And the crown would be gold.
01:23What would it mean for you to get this commission, David?
01:25It'd probably be the highlight of my entire career, to be honest.
01:29It would ensure lots more work in the future, it would ensure a bigger studio, and really
01:39it would give me a space to create more work for Scotland, and to give more work away as
01:47well to councils that would like work but couldn't afford it.
01:54It would let me start a gallery to show work, it would probably mean everything.
02:03There's not many statues like this in the world, never mind Scotland.
02:08The idea is that in the long term this will bring money in, this will bring tourism in,
02:14this will bring visitors to Perth, it will more than make up for the money spent on it.
02:21The Kelpies I think took about £5 million to make, the amount of time over the ten years
02:27or so they've been up, they've brought in over £120 million.
02:32And would you expect the same to happen?
02:34I would expect the same to happen, yeah, easily, easily.
02:38It's not one of these kind of statues that's going to go out of fashion, it's not going
02:42to get rusty, people aren't going to look at it in ten years and think it's ugly or
02:48be sick of it.
02:49It's an established form, it will only become more valuable the longer it's been there.
03:00The closest thing you can compare it to is the Statue of Liberty, or something like Christ
03:04the Redeemer, it becomes a symbol of the city.
03:08This figure is called Destiny and I think it's for Scotland, it's sort of presenting
03:16this crown of destiny to the future.
03:20So this would be a commission for a new development in Perth.
03:25So there's a new road network being built called the Cross-Tailinks Road Network, which
03:30includes a bridge and some revitalisation of the road network, along with some grasslands
03:38and scenery and some smaller works of art.
03:41And then this would be ideally the piece de resistance, the central piece of work which
03:47you should be able to see as you drive along the road.
03:50This here would be built from bronze in a thousand or so sections, which would be welded
03:55together and put up on site.
03:57So it would get put together in pieces, welded and then patinated, and bronze is the perfect
04:02medium for it, especially in Scotland with our climate.
04:05Stone statues fall to pieces, you know the rain that batters Scotland destroys a stone
04:13statue in 100 years, 200 years, but a bronze statue like this would last a thousand years.
04:22So this proposal went in the tail end of last year, probably won't find out until next
04:27year.
04:28The height of this statue would be 40 metres from the base to the top of the head.
04:35There would be a walkway around the back and an entrance just at the bottom of the base
04:40here behind the foot.
04:42You'd walk in, up some stairs up inside, along the arm, up to a wee viewing platform from
04:51where you could look straight down, or you could look out towards Perth, because this
04:57should be facing south towards Perth, and then you'd walk around here, take your photos,
05:04and come down the other arm, and then down some stairs this way, and then back out.