Twisted Reality: Alex Chinneck Bends Bristol (and Hermès) Out of Shape
No, this is not a set of a surrealist film. This is the very real, very warped world of British artist Alex Chinneck, a man who sees the urban landscape as his playground—and has no problem turning public fixtures into a scene, literally.
Known for his large-scale, mind-bending sculptures that combine visual trickery with impeccable craft, Chinneck has taken his signature sleight-of-eye to the streets of Assembly Bristol with three new permanent installations that toe the line between sculpture and satire. And yes, they’re as bizarrely delightful as they sound.
Knot Just Street Art
Chinneck’s latest public works are part sculpture, part hallucination. First, there’s the Wring Ring, a bright red phone booth contorted like a bath towel mid-wring. Then comes First Kiss at Last Light, a pair of Victorian-style street lamps knotted like lovers in a late-night embrace—one twisted into a bow, the other coiled in a heavy-metal cuddle. It’s witty, uncanny, and just a little unsettling. In other words, pure Chinneck.“
There’s intelligence in humour,” Chinneck tells us. “I want my sculptures to be poetic, self-aware, and a little absurd.” Well, mission accomplished.
Heavy Metal, Light Touch
These aren’t flimsy props. Each piece is cast in metal—bronze, copper, and aluminium—to echo the solidity of 19th-century architecture while giving form to an utterly fluid fantasy. The lamp posts weigh in at over 250 kilograms each, yet they appear to bend like licorice. The phone box? It’s a technical marvel: not only was its bronze body hand-twisted, but even its glass panels were sculpted into folds and creases. No detail left unwarped.“I wanted to create contemporary public art that feels like it belongs in the historical fabric of the city,” Chinneck explains. “There’s a Victorian romance to the materials, but the forms… they belong to another world entirely.”
A Familiar Twist in Fashion
This isn’t Chinneck’s first brush with the high-end. In fact, earlier this year, Hermès invited the artist to bring his magic touch to their flagship windows at The Landmark Prince’s in Hong Kong. The result? A five-meter-tall installation that looked like a luxury Jenga tower gone rogue: handbags stacked on a wooden horse, teetering on the edge of collapse. Inside, a secret bookcase paid homage to Emile Hermès’s childhood escape route—an Alice-in-Wonderland nod to the whimsical undercurrent that drives both brand and artist.
And of course, there was the Chinneck twist—literally. One entire Hermès silk scarf had been “tied” around a grand piano, cinching it into an oversized, elegant bow. Because, why not?
