Sheffield doesn't do landmarks by half

The sculptor Alex Chinneck has announced his most ambitious and eye-catching piece of public art so far: four chimneys with a twist, which will form new landmarks in the post-industrial landscape between Sheffield and Rotherham in Yorkshire. Called Onwards & Upwards, one of the 30-metre-tall chimney sculptors is tied in a knot, two leaning chimneys will span the Sheffield and Tinsley canal, another will have an upper section that appears to float and for good measure a fourth that appears to be cracking up will be illuminated at night. Renderings go on show in an exhibition in Sheffield on Saturday (23 September). Around 100,000 bespoke bricks will be needed to complete Chinneck's mega project. A member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, he says in a statement that such a monumental undertaking is only possible because of "the unrivalled concentration of world-class companies found in the city". Sheffield council and Rotherham's too are on board as are Tinsley residents, many of whom miss the Tinsley cooling towers demolished ten years ago. Subject to funding, building supplies and sufficiently skilled brickies, the two-mile-long, high-rise sculpture trail will be completed by 2019 in time for the canal's bicentenary. Angel of the North, you have competition.