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Quantum Cloud

Quantum Cloud is a contemporary sculpture by Antony Gormley located next to The O2 in London. Commissioned for the site and completed in 1999, it is Gormley’s tallest sculpture to date, taller than the Angel of the North. The work is built from tetrahedral units made of long steel sections, arranged with a computer model using a random walk algorithm. These elements begin from points on the surface of an enlarged figure based on Gormley’s body, leaving a residual outline at the centre of the sculpture. The work was influenced by physicist Basil Hiley’s ideas on pre-space and by his remark that “algebra is the relationship of relationships.” Quantum Cloud is part of The Line, a series of artworks following the Greenwich Meridian.

Quantum Cloud sculpture of thin dark metal rods forming a large oval shape beside the water.
Antony Gormley’s Quantum Cloud rises from a pier, forming a dense web of dark metal rods against the sky.
© · CC BY 2.0
Quantum Cloud sculpture beside the water with buildings on the far shore under a clear sky.
Quantum Cloud stands by the waterfront with the distant shoreline visible across the water.
January 2010 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quantum Cloud sculpture on a riverside platform beside a blue pedestrian bridge.
Quantum Cloud stands on a platform by the river near a pedestrian bridge.
August 2007 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quantum Cloud sculpture rising above the River Thames near a blue arched bridge and waterfront buildings.
Quantum Cloud stands on pillars above the River Thames near the O2 Arena waterfront.
February 2008 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quantum Cloud sculpture rises behind a blue bridge over the river near a pier.
The Quantum Cloud stands beyond the river bridge near the QEII Pier area.
August 2009 © · CC BY-SA 2.0

Identification

TitleQuantum Cloud
TypeContemporary sculpture
Original title«Квантовое облако»

Creator

Basil Hiley noteQuantum physicist and long-time colleague of David Bohm
ArtistAntony Gormley
Artist nationalityBritish
Related personDavid Peat, writer

Location and ownership

LocationGreenwich Peninsula, London, near the Millennium Dome
Part ofThe Line
The Line descriptionA series of artworks that follow the Greenwich Meridian through the London Boroughs of Greenwich, Tower Hamlets, and Newham

Historical context

Completion date1999
Completion contextCompleted during the opening of the Millennium Dome

Discovery and provenance

Commissioned forThe site where it is located

Physical characteristics

Height30 m
StructureA collection of tetrahedral units made from many four-sided steel profiles, each 1.5 m long

Significance

Claimed height significanceGormley's tallest work; taller than the Angel of the North

Materials

MaterialSteel profiles

Technique

Algorithm starting pointA point on the surface of an enlarged figure based on Gormley's body
Design methodProfiles were arranged using a computer model created with a random walk algorithm

Appearance

Central formResidual outlines of Gormley's body form the center of the sculpture

Iconography and meaning

InspirationBasil Hiley's ideas about pre-space as a mathematical structure underlying space-time and matter
Quoted idea behind the work"Algebra is a relation of relations"
Inspiration contextThe comment was made during a 1999 conversation between Gormley, Basil Hiley, and writer David Peat at a London meeting of artists and scientists organized by Peat

History and restoration

Structural design byElliott Wood Partnership
Foundation design byBeckett Rankine
Fabricated byTubeworkers (Structures) Ltd.