Timelapse Kelpies

April 10, 2014 5:31 AM

Watch a seven minute timelapse of Andy Scott's work, The Kelpies being erected, a pair of 30ft steel equine statues situated near Falkirk, Scotland. The BBC also has a sped up version, if you don't have the seven minutes spare. [previous, previous]

The timelapse is the work of Walid Salhab (Youtube, twitter) Film Director and Lecturer at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University. The Scotsman has an article about the filming.

posted by halcyonday (17 comments total)

Gah, those statues are stunning. I would love to see them in real life.
posted by Kitteh at 5:43 AM on April 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

I can't say they're exactly my cup of tea, but I do like the dynamic monumentalism of them.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:55 AM on April 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Wow, they are my cup of tea, and I wouldn't have expected that. And those late-dusk images with that impossibly deep blue sky... I repeat, wow.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:37 AM on April 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ah, it's 30 meters - I didn't think those could possibly be 30 feet.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:41 AM on April 10, 2014

Here's a rather good video taken with a small drone, flying around the Kelpies while they were being finished off. They are a gorgeous piece of sculpture, we'll be popping along the motorway to visit them soon as possible.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:42 AM on April 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Those are much better than the Blue Demonic Death Horse at the Denver Airport.
posted by eriko at 6:45 AM on April 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Wow, as a climber, my first thought is that it's a short matter of time until someone's on top of those. Probably 5.9 tops.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:46 AM on April 10, 2014

Also, if you haven't seen Walid Salhab's two stop-motion films about Edinburgh, Kinetic Edinburgh I and Kinetic Edinburgh II, you're missing yourself. They had the power to make me homesick for my own city, while I was sitting in it.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:51 AM on April 10, 2014 [2 favorites]

I found the weird juddering of the muzzle, just before they attached it, weirdly upsetting. The rest of it was beautiful. I am not sure what this says about me.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:24 AM on April 10, 2014

There are a couple of much smaller ones on the Chicago lakefront in the museum campus.
posted by srboisvert at 7:48 AM on April 10, 2014

I saw them a few weeks ago, just before they were finished. I had been looking forward to seeing them, but I hadn't realised they were so close to completion. It was a pleasant surprise to come across them while driving down the motorway. They look fantastic.
When I first saw that they had been commissioned, I mistakenly formed the impression that they would nod backwards and forwards when the adjacent canal lock was in operation. I was a little let down when it turned out that this was not the case. Now I've seen them, it seems like asking for more would be greedy.
posted by Jakey at 8:39 AM on April 10, 2014

I expect finishing the rest of the horses underground will be a much slower process.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:51 AM on April 10, 2014 [5 favorites]

On display now in Bryant Park, NYC. Very cool.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:13 AM on April 10, 2014

They lit them up a few nights ago and the police had to warn people to stop pulling over on the motorway to take pictures.
People are already taking the "leaning tower" type photo from across the canal as if they are feeding them
posted by stuartmm at 9:34 AM on April 10, 2014 [3 favorites]

Those are much better than the Blue Demonic Death Horse at the Denver Airport.

Although kelpies are, in fact, demonic death horses (though not, I think, blue).
posted by yoink at 10:15 AM on April 10, 2014

Those are lovely.
posted by maxwelton at 11:10 AM on April 10, 2014

Cool.
posted by homunculus at 9:04 PM on April 10, 2014