GE unveils London's first living plant picture in Trafalgar Squar
GE Jenbacher engine to reduce the Gallery's energy consumption and carbon footprint
London 26 May 2011 -- GE has joined with the National Gallery to bring a masterpiece to life, with a version of Van Gogh's famous painting A Wheatfield, with Cypresses made from over 8000 living plants.
Situated on a hoarding on the western side of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London, the painting will be grown throughout the spring and summer, remaining in place until the end of October 2011. The actual painting by Van Gogh can be seen in Room 45 of the National Gallery.
GE is also working to improve the carbon footprint of the Gallery by supplying one of its environmentally friendly Jenbacher cogeneration heat and power engines (a JG5412) which will contribute significantly to the Gallery's electricity requirements.
Said Mark Elborne, President and CEO of GE UK: "We are delighted to be working with the National Gallery on these two projects. The living painting, the first of its kind, is a creative manifestation of GE's commitment to the environment through our ecomagination business strategy. This is all about meeting customers' demands for more energy efficient products. The Jenbacher engine will save the Gallery money and reduce its carbon emissions by 1400 metric tons per annum. Together these two projects are effectively helping to make the Gallery 'green, both inside and out'."
Said Sarah Ward, National Gallery Director of Public Affairs: "We're excited at the prospect of such a creative collaboration, whereby GE is supporting the National Gallery's aims towards energy efficiency and stimulating interest in our collection of paintings. Taking Van Gogh's painting as the inspiration for a living wall represents a highly innovative approach to a sponsorship opportunity and the National Gallery is delighted to be working with GE on this unique project."
Said Gregory Perry, National Gallery Director of Operations and Administration: "We are committed to preserving the nation's paintings in our care in a way that is environmentally responsible. The Gallery has worked with the Central Government Carbon Management Service to develop a programme of reduction in energy use and plans to reduce carbon emission by over 40% in the next four years. The single project that will have the greatest significance in our efforts to reduce emissions is the Jenbacher CHP installation - this project alone provides 62% of our target emissions."
Van Gogh's painting was selected as the subject for the living wall following an extensive review to find a suitable image. A Wheatfield, with Cypresses was chosen because the strong bands of colour in the original, which lends itself to being reproduced in living plants.
The living painting has been constructed by specialist living wall company ANS Group using over 8000 plants of differing varieties. To create the artwork, each plant was hand-planted into its location in one of 640 modules according to a numbered drawing which replicated the image. The modules were then grown vertically at the Aldingbourne Nursery ready for installation.
Maintenance will be carried out fortnightly throughout the spring and summer. This will include visual checks of plant health, watering, pruning and general plant husbandry. The living painting has an in-built irrigation system which waters the plants automatically at regular intervals.
Steve McIntyre, Sales Manager of ANS Group says "ANS has experience of creating over 100 living walls. However we are delighted to be involved in this project as it is the first of its kind to bring a famous painting to life in plants. It is also unique as it has been produced and fully established in a very short time frame."
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Mark Maguire
GE
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