Painting a gigantic unused silo in the port of Antwerp
The Story
During the Tizarte festival (14-23 September 2018 in Antwerp), we once again had the pleasure of inviting our good friend Gooze! This Russian artist decided to make a "small" artwork on an old abandoned grain silo at the harbour docks.
29 metres high and 21 metres wide. How on earth do you begin? Simple: with a roller and 7 buckets of paint, a sturdy telescopic lift, no fear of the wind and a handy driver. In just 6 days, our artist tackled the facade from head to toe. That's very impressive when you look at all the details of this alien jellyfish. Before we could get started, we needed the permission of the local administration. That process often takes at least three months. We also had to contact the owner of the site to make sure that we could work safely, without being overwhelmed by a rat infestation. Or worse, that the building would collapse. Fortunately, after a careful inspection, everything was in order. The site was fenced off and we could start painting to our heart's content.
There is a lot to tell about how the wind can fly around your ears, how curious rats can stare at you from below in the evening hours, how many cars and boats passed by while we were working, and most of all, that you should not try this at home. But in the end, we had another successful mural project with great comments and words from just about everyone who passed by. Even truck drivers honked their horns to say we did a good job.
According to some rumors, the building would be demolished (with dynamite ?) for the construction of a connection to the Antwerp Ring.
We'll see about that...
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Total area: 595 m2
- Material: concrete
- Width: 21m
- Height: 28.3m
- Composition: acrylic colours and spray cans
- Project duration: 5 days
