Britannia is a newly commissioned textile work which will span three floors of the glass atrium. Before they get placed, the components need to be stuffed with polystyrene filling – currently they are only partially full. The protective bags which the individual sections come in need at least two people to heft them off the ground and four if you really want to carry it some distance.

The hanging of Britannia is scheduled to take a total of four days.

Once completely full (and utterly heavy) the pieces are suspended from the ceiling with the help of scaffolding, abseilers hanging from the atrium ceiling, and a cherry picker.  Needless to say, the installation in the atrium is something I am greatly looking forward to. The gallery is making a time lapse video of the process so everyone will be able to see how it comes together. Currently there are soft crate bags placed on balconies in the atrium, waiting to be unwrapped tomorrow morning. Exciting.