NEWSUBSTANCE transformed a retired rig from the North Sea into one of the United Kingdom’s largest public art installations, called See Monster. The repurposed rig became a temporary pavilion on the UK coast, designed to inspire conversations about the reuse of industrial structures. The installation had trees, grasses, a multi-level slide, and a 10-meter-high cascading waterfall, and it was considered one of the UK’s largest art installations.
The ‘See Monster’, a 450-tonne structure, turned into a public art piece
Designed by creative studio NEWSUBSTANCE, the 450-tonne platform offshore gas platform sat in a shallow pool on the Weston-super-Mare seafront. A 10-metre-high waterfall cascades from the platform’s lowest level. See Monster’s top levels held a wild garden with grasses, trees, and plants suitable for the Atlantic weather. The art installation also featured a multi-level slide, a broadcast studio, and a seated amphitheater, while the gas platform’s former helideck functioned as a viewpoint.
See Monster features four levels, a garden, and a 10-meter waterfall
According to Unboxed: Creativity in the UK‘s chief creative officer, Martin Green, the installation aims to showcase how industrial structures can be reused. “The transformation of a decommissioned platform into one of the UK’s most ambitious public art installations has been an unprecedented undertaking and offers a blueprint for the reuse of industrial structures that everyone involved should be proud of,” Green said.
Work to dismantle See Monster began on 21 November 2022 and was completed in early 2023. The structure was recycled, with some of the features being donated to local projects and the trees and plants being replanted around Weston-super-Mare. See Monster Garden, a public garden on Weston-super-Mare seafront featuring many of the trees and plants from the installation, and intended as a lasting legacy, opened on 24 July 2023.
The structure was recycled, with some of the features being donated to local projects and the trees and plants being replanted around Weston-super-Mare
