July 23, 2012

Starting its engine for the 2012 Olympics: Artist’s giant sculpture of an athlete doing push-ups, made from a 1957 London bus

A controversial artist has produced a fitting work to commemorate the 2012 Olympics - a mechanical sculpture of an athlete doing push-ups, made from a traditional London bus.

With two giant arms and an electrical engine, the 1957 bus has been transformed into a piece of art by Czech sculptor David Cerny.

The work, named London Boosted, has been installed outside the Czech Olympic House in Islington, north London, to mark the Games’ opening in the capital on Friday.

Wiring and suspension tools help the six-tonne bus move up and down on bright red arms, raising the chassis into various angles, accompanied by recordings of a groaning voice and video projections in the windows.

Cerny, who bought the bus from an owner in the Netherlands, said: ‘There is one common exercise for every sportsman in the world, and that is push-ups.

'It is training for sport activities but at the same time it is also punishment in armies and prisons.

'So the push-ups are a very universal physical activity… It is in a way very ironic.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2177510/London-2012-Olympics-Artist-David-Cerny-makes-giant-sculpture-athlete-doing-push-ups-London-bus.html

3:25am | URL: https://tmblr.co/ZV8MTyPvHzNr

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