Channel 4 Brings Its Logo to Life to Launch Big Art in 2008
October 14, 2007 | Levent OZLER
Channel 4 is bringing its "4" logo to life in a major new art commission in the run up to Channel 4's 25th anniversary on 2nd November. A 48 foot-high steel "4" is being constructed on the steps of the channel's headquarters in Horseferry Road, London. The Big 4 will be unveiled by the Arts Minister Margaret Hodge at the official unveiling on 16th October at 11:15am.
The towering installation, designed by Freestate, in conjunction with award-winning engineers, Atelier One, will mirror the channel's award-winning idents with steel bars forming the instantly recognisable "4" logo only when viewed from a certain angle.
The work coincides with a major television series on public art and art in the built environment, the Big Art Project, which comes to Channel 4 screens in 2008.Four artists over the course of 12 months will customise the Big 4 starting with Nick Knight one of Britain's most innovative and influential photographers, Mark Titchner, shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2006 and celebrated Ghanaian sculptor El-Anatsui. The fourth artist will be the winner of a competition open to young arts graduates, run in conjunction with the Saatchi Gallery.
The artists invited to design the Big 4 were selected by a committee of arts experts, made up of Jan Younghusband - Channel 4 Commissioning Editor, Arts & Performance; Brett Foraker - Network Creative Director, Channel 4; Gus Casely-Hayford - Executive Director, Arts Strategy, Arts Council; Michael Morris - Co-Director, Artangel; Will Gompertz - Director, Tate Media and Tim Marlow - Director of Exhibitions, White Cube Gallery.
The Big 4 Art Project is the first time the broadcaster has commissioned art for outside its headquarters, which was opened in 1994 and built by the Richard Rodgers Partnership.
Jan Younghusband, Commissioning Editor, Arts and Performance at Channel 4, said: "We are committed to commissioning new work and working with artists on screen, and it is in this spirit that we have invited artists to customise the Big 4 installation at Channel Four, to bring art onto our front doorstep. As we're on a public highway we hope that people will come and visit and enjoy the 48-foot high structure."
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