One of the most popular and intriguing artworks at Art Across The City 2014 was The General Public, the four ghostly heads by The Ultimate Holding Company. Created using 3D scanning and laser cut from cardboard, these monumental heads caused quite a stir when installed in Swansea Bus Station.
The heads, commissioned as part of the Dylan Thomas 100 celebrations, were four ex-employees at Amazon, who have a large depot in Swansea. The scanning was undertaken with kind sponsorship by Ian Williams at the Institute for Sustainable Design at UWTSD. Writer Niall Griffiths supplied the heads with individual stories which were installed below the heads.
The heads were installed overnight thanks to the assistance of Bus Station Manager, Richard Stafford. Come morning, they immediately started to attract attention, worrying glances and questions from the morning commuters. Easter Island, Big Brother, CCTV, etc, were just some of the initial responses.
Over the next ten weeks, the heads became a part of the everyday fabric of the city, with some rather cheeky interventions including someone, somehow, placing earrings in each of the heads.
Now that they are gone they are being missed, with even more enquiries to their whereabouts. This is something that happens a lot when public art takes hold of the public imagination.
This short time lapse film by Ultimate Holding Company gives an insight into how they were made and installed in Swansea as part of Art Across The City. Where are they now, will they be back… who knows?
The General Public: Ultimate Holding Company for Art Across The City, Swansea 2014 from gordon dalton on Vimeo.