30.10.2007

Spider lift?

When London’s Tate Modern gallery installed a nine metre spider sculpture ‘Maman’ (mother) it called on Panther Platform Rentals to provide an appropriate machine to install and remove the rigging and from the crane that lifted it into position as well as the protective packing it was shipped in.

Panther selected a Nifty Lift HR15N for the job which offers up to 15.6 metres working height and 9.6 metres of outreach in a compact fully self propelled package.
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The Nifty HR15N outside of Tate Modern

Maman is one of a series of six gargantuan spiders built in the 1990s by French born artist Louise Bourgeois. It is the first time that one of the series of sculptures has gone on outdoor display in the UK.

Bourgeois, 95, who moved to New York in 1938, said: "The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother."

Bronze casts of Maman are on permanent display at The Guggenheim Museum, in Bilbao, the Samsung Museum of Art, in Seoul, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and the National Gallery of Canada.

Richard Miller, Joint director of Panther said: “Whilst we have over 2,000 machines working on different jobs around the country, this particular job caught my eye. We were thrilled that we could help with the setting up of such an important exhibition, and I look forward to viewing it in person within the next few weeks.”

The Tate Modern exhibition, featuring more than 200 Bourgeois works, opened on October 10 and runs until January 20 2008.