This Giant Christmas Tree Suspended in an Ice Cube Isn't What It Seems

British artist Alex Chinneck's latest sculptural trickery features a two storey 'block of ice.'

December 6, 2016, 2:50pm

Alex Chinneck, Fighting fire with ice cream. (Photo credit: Iwona Pinkowicz)

A cube of ice might not seem like the ideal place for a Christmas tree, but that's where one appears to be in British artist and sculptor Alex Chinneck's latest public artwork Fighting fire with ice cream. The seasonal installation is at Granary Square in Kings Cross, London and the suspended tree is 17' tall and covered in 1,200 lights.

Although it might have the apperance of it, the 23' cube isn't actually ice but instead has been carved from two tons of resin. Chinneck also created a puddle to give the appearance it was melting into the nearby fountains—the puddle was created from 550 pounds of wax.

The installation, about the height of a two-story house, follows on from Chinneck's previous public artworks that combine architecture, construction, sculpture, and engineering to create illusory, tricksy sculptures that defy expectations. Past pieces include a gravity-defying parked car and his A Bullet from a Shooting Star for last year's London Design Festival which featured a 15-ton electricity pylon balanced upside down.

Alex Chinneck, Fighting fire with ice cream. (Photo credit: Iwona Pinkowicz)

“The work has been created for everyone and anyone," Chinneck says in a press statement. "Every project that we produce is unique to the place in which it stands; I wanted to create an installation for King’s Cross that was visually and theatrically intertwined with the fountains of Granary Square. They bring the location to life and so it was logical to take inspiration from their animating presence. If any Christmas parties run out of ice, they’ll know where to find some!”