Uri Geller spoon gorilla statue unveiled

Uri Geller spoon gorilla statue unveiled

17 May 2014 Last updated at 15:14

Sculptor Alfie Bradley said the pose had been inspired by the film King Kong

A huge gorilla statue made entirely of spoons for entertainer Uri
Geller has been unveiled by Prince Michael of Kent.

The 12ft-high (3.6m) statue features about 40,000 spoons and has taken
almost five months to build at the British Ironworks Centre in
Oswestry.

The spoons have been donated from across the world, as well as local
schoolchildren.

It is due to be transported to Mr Geller’s home in Berkshire on 28 May.

It was hoped the statue could be transported to Berkshire by
helicopter, but after safety fears, the Ironworks Centre said the TV
production company behind Shipping Wars had stepped forward to help.

About 250 people toasted the unveiling of the gorilla statue in a
sunny Oswestry.

The British Ironworks Centre had long kept the project under wraps so
there was a palpable sense of intrigue and anticipation about what a
12ft high gorilla made entirely of spoons would actually look like.

Uri Geller was clearly very pleased with the end result.

He even signed bent spoons for a few of the children who came along to
the unveiling.

While Mr Geller laid down the challenge of creating a giant gorilla,
Clive Knowles, managing director of the British Ironworks Centre, said
it had been built for the nation and funded by the firm.

He said he was hoping the statue would ultimately live somewhere more
accessible to the public and that the firm was in contact with Great
Ormond Street Hospital as a possible location.

Many of the spoons have been sent from as far away as China, India,
Kenya, Tahiti and Armenia.

Mr Geller, a friend of Prince Michael, himself donated a spoon once
owned by Winston Churchill.

Speaking at the unveiling, in front of a large crowd, Mr Geller
described the statue as “an amazing piece of art”.

He said: “This will not raise money for charity. It will do something
better. It will amaze sick children.”

“I am not going to look at the gorilla too hard in case the spoons
bend,” he added

“It has been an amazing day and Clive has made the impossible possible.

Uri Geller said he had donated a spoon owned by Winston Churchill to
be used in the statue
The project has taken almost five months to complete

Sculptor Alfie Bradley, who has hand-welded every spoon to the statue,
said he had been amazed at how the appeal for cutlery had taken off on
social media.

“Initially we thought we only needed 5,000 spoons, but it’s incredibly
hard to calculate and it turned out we actually needed 40,000,” he
said.

“It’s been incredibly repetitive, but it’s been a challenge. The
spoons have been different sizes, different metals.”

‘Immense appetite’

He said the project had given him “sleepless nights” and now “just the
word ‘spoon’ is enough to drive me crazy”.

Mr Bradley added that the gorilla’s pose, with one fist breaking out
of a cage, had been inspired by the film King Kong.

Due to the number of spoons donated by schoolchildren across the
world, he said he had come to think of the statue as “a protector” of
children.

Teams from the centre have given presentations at schools in
Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in an appeal for spoons, but
the firm soon looked overseas.

Mr Knowles said he believed the past five months had cost the firm
about £120,000 in staff time, but described it as an “exciting
rollercoaster of a ride”.

He said the experience had given the firm “an immense appetite to do
something even better” and appealed to the public to suggest a new
project that would “celebrate Britain”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress