Colossus to rise again
TWENTY-THREE centuries after craftsmen carved the legendary statue that has inspired legions of painters, poets, playwrights and politicians, a new Colossus of Rhodes is about to be born.
Like the original, the new Colossus will adorn an outer pier in the harbour area of Rhodes and will be visible to passing ships. But it will be much taller and bigger than the ancient Colossus, which stood 34 metres high before an earthquake toppled it in 226BC.
The German artist Gert Hof has conceived the new work as a light sculpture that will allow visitors to inspect it by day and enjoy - through light shows - the stories it will "tell" by night.
"We are talking about a highly, highly innovative light sculpture, one that will stand between 60 metres and 100 metres tall so people can physically enter it," Dr Dimitris Koutoulas, who is heading the project in Greece, says.
"Although we are still at the drawing board stage, Gert Hof's plan is to make it the world's largest light installation, a structure that has never before been seen anywhere in the world."
The work is expected to cost up to $390 million.
TWENTY-THREE centuries after craftsmen carved the legendary statue that has inspired legions of painters, poets, playwrights and politicians, a new Colossus of Rhodes is about to be born.
Like the original, the new Colossus will adorn an outer pier in the harbour area of Rhodes and will be visible to passing ships. But it will be much taller and bigger than the ancient Colossus, which stood 34 metres high before an earthquake toppled it in 226BC.
The German artist Gert Hof has conceived the new work as a light sculpture that will allow visitors to inspect it by day and enjoy - through light shows - the stories it will "tell" by night.
"We are talking about a highly, highly innovative light sculpture, one that will stand between 60 metres and 100 metres tall so people can physically enter it," Dr Dimitris Koutoulas, who is heading the project in Greece, says.
"Although we are still at the drawing board stage, Gert Hof's plan is to make it the world's largest light installation, a structure that has never before been seen anywhere in the world."
The work is expected to cost up to $390 million.
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