Bose brings David Bowie statue to life
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The bronze statue, entitled Earthly Messenger can be found in Aylesbury’s Market Square, the town where he first performed Ziggy Stardust in 1972, and is not just one statue. It’s a compilation of his very varied personas, from his Ziggy days in the 1970s, through a suited Bowie in the 80s and 90s to a more formal look in his later years.
Overlooking the many faceted statue are two Bose 802 Series IV speakers which deliver a random selection of Bowie hits on the hour, every hour between 9am and 9pm seven days a week, and marking the contribution the singer made to UK popular culture.
The speakers were installed by Bose pro partner, Adam Florio of AV Systems, who realised that the Bose 802s would be suitable for the project after learning that the original 802s were first launched in the same year as Bowie debuted Ziggy Stardust.
A successful crowdfunding campaign was instigated by Aylesbury resident, David Stopps, who also ran The Friars music venue when David Bowie played there in 1972. The campaign culminated in the creation of the statue, and there were several 1980s artists on hand to reveal the bronze image of the rock god last weekend, including Marillion’s Steve Rothery, and singer/songwriter Howard Jones. Earthly Messenger sculptor, Andrew Sinclair, was also at the unveiling to provide a commentary on how he approached the work.
(Jim Evans)
