Pirate Technics / Shipshape Arts 2013 End of Year Party!

To say a big thank you to all the Pirate crew and celebrate our busiest year to date, we held a party in the local pub, Bar Deux in Nottingham on Saturday 19th October.

There was a great turnout, an award ceremony, snacks and even a little burn!

Here's a video of the burn, with thanks to Barney...

2013 T-Shirts Have Arrived!

The 2013 Pirate Crew T-Shirts have arrived, featuring all our projects of the year! Try and guess what each letter is...

Please collect at the Pirate Party this weekend.

Olympic Park Move

The first of our two topiary installations, the Neighbours, have been taken down from the Southbank Centre now. But don't fear (especially if you live in Stratford) if you can't get along to see the Sweepers before they go too because we are currently in discussions with the Olympic Park!

John Lewis Fabric Tree 2013

Another Pirate Technics fabric tree has sprouted in a John Lewis store - this time in High Wycombe!

Bestival

Pirate Technics visited the Isle of Wight for Bestival, building a sculpture for a new arena called Temple Island.

Seated Green Man for 2013

This year for the Green Man Festival, Pirate Technics built a seated green man, with climbable walkway up one leg, over his lap and back down the other side. Children who had participated in the charm workshop could then throw their carefully crafted flower charms into his wicker basket on his lap. His seat was also a space that could be climbed inside and wishes were written and tied to the walls.

Kraken emerges from Secret Garden Party lake

Pirate Technics once again surpass themselves by the construction of an enormous Kraken destroying a boat for the Secret Garden Party lake stage in 2013.

The scaled monster had animatronic eyes and improbable tentacles pulling the dance floor boat to pieces.

In case that wasn't enough, it was burnt spectacularly with a music-synced laser and firework show on the Saturday night!

Here's a link to a photo album of Secret Garden Party 2013 and YouTube video.

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Pirate Technics were commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society to create a windmill for Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2013. It is a 7m tall straw windmill with dried flower stripes, a seating area at the base and working sails.

It was situated near the Champagne Bar at the event, the weather was glorious all week and everything was a huge success!

There's a picture of our windmill in this slideshow on the BBC of Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23230488

Also, look out for the windmill at Tatton Park Flower Show later in the year!

Glastonbury

Pirate Technics broke their Glastonbury cherry, not once but twice in the same year! Our pagodas were backstage in the Park field and we built some Tree Figures for the entrance to the stone circle.

John Lewis Visual Merchandising

Pirate Technics have completed another Visual Merchandising installation for John Lewis at the Cheadle store near Manchester. It is around 3 thousand individually wrapped fabric tubes sitting on 8 "islands" to create a sound-wave like effect.

Pirate Technics in the Media

Check out this preview of the Southbank Centre's Festival of Neighbourhood on the BBC and watch out for our two large topiary "Sweeper" sculptures on the roof.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22741903

Here's an interview with Pirate Techincs about the installation on taskhub:

http://blog.taskhub.co.uk/post/55602308073/taskhub-interviews-pirate-technics

Pirate Technics Southbank Centre Sculptures

Pirate Technics have installed not just one,but four new large scale sculptures for the Southbank Centre in London!

They are topiray effect figures designed in response to the theme of Neighbourhood, which is the title of the Southbank's summer festival of 2013.

Two sit atop the Queen Elizabeth Hall, next to Waterloo bridge and are inspired by the Blitz-Spritz which occurred after the London riots where local communities joined forces on the streets to clean-up the mess.

The old woman is the familiar figure of the neighbour keeping her doorstep clean and tidy, accompanied by a younger figure mimicking her actions.

‘If every man would sweep his own doorstep the city soon be clean’
[1666 G. Torriano Italian Proverbs 41]

The other two figures are positioned close to Waterloo station, at the rear of the Royal Festival Hall at the foot of Festival Terrace.

Here, neighbours casually chat over a fence. It is a common scene, representing the importance of being familiar with those that live in close proximity.

For more information about the Festival of Neighbourhood, visit the Southbank Centre's website.

First Festival of 2013

The first festival of the year and the first outing of the Parrot Pagodas was at Bearded Theory in Derbyshire this weekend.

It's a great little festival with Kedleston Hall as the backdrop. These two Pagodas were in the main arena, with the third providing backstage seating for crew.

Look out for them at several other UK festivals this year as you are sure to find a Pirate nearby!

Last Chance to see Under the Baobab

The Pirate Technics sculpture 'Under the Baobab' featured at the Southbank Centre near Waterloo Bridge will be dismantled next week, so if you haven't seen it and wish to, get along there soon before it disappears forever...