Sticky

Sticky centred on a huge insect-like creature giving birth to a host of larval eggs, which floated skywards against a backdrop of fire. It was a modest show with a few stilt-walkers, a couple of fireworks and sparklers, and of course, the Sellotape.

“There are plenty of crowd-pleasing fireworks, but what sets this apart from mere spectacle is metaphor. The sticky tape edifice miraculously rises from the ground but the human effort involved is incredible. It sways against the night sky, ethereal, beautiful and mysterious, its top looking like an exquisite spun sugar cap. Thirty minutes later, it is gone.”
Lyn Gardner
The Guardian

“Sticky is powerfully elemental, as it follows an arc of evolution from nothing to industrialisation.”
Simon Fanshawe
The Daily Telegraph

“A wonderful collaboration between world leaders in different disciplines… without doubt one of the artistic highlights of my year.”
David Micklem
Arts Council England

“The tower rises before the audience, creating fantastical images as it grows, and then explodes in a blaze of shooting stars and Catherine wheels, releasing a huge winged insect. It is spectacular, but also extraordinarily moving.”
Ian Shuttleworth
The Financial Times