Brixton's Getting A Huge Lightning Bolt Bowie Memorial

Will Noble
By Will Noble Last edited 73 months ago

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Brixton's Getting A Huge Lightning Bolt Bowie Memorial
The bolt that fell to Earth: what the memorial will look like

Here are images of a new memorial to David Bowie, mooted to appear on Tunstall Road in Brixton — right next to Jimmy C’s Aladdin Sane mural.

A fundraising campaign to pay for the artwork is underway, and these artist's impressions of the memorial have appeared on the late singer's official Twitter and Facebook.

The 9m (three-storey) tall stainless steel lightning bolt references Brixton-born Bowie's iconic zigzag facepaint, as worn on the cover of Aladdin Sane. Much like Bowie himself, it'll appear to have been hurled here from another dimension — and make quite the impact.

The big Bowie fans behind the project are the Brixton Pound and creatives This Ain’t Rock'n'Roll, who designed the Brixton five pound note, which features Bowie.

Binki Taylor, chair of the Brixton Pound, said: "We are delighted to have developed the plans in consultation with David Bowie’s team in London and New York. It’s a spectacular and very fitting tribute, in Brixton where the star was born."

Charlie Waterhouse, of This Ain't Rock'n'Roll, added: "It's a monument that’s at once baffling yet immediately familiar — a reminder that there's always another narrative. Startling, stupid and utterly joyous in equal measure this is a piece of public art that the whole community can be proud of.

"It's totally Brixton, utterly Bowie."

We reckon this is a much more effective tribute to Bowie than your common or garden statue, although we give it five minutes before fan boys/girls are scribbling their favourite Bowie lyrics onto it.

We also predict it won't be long until there's a petition to change Tunstall Road to Ziggy Road. Or maybe that should be Aladdin's Lane...

The Crowdfunding campaign is looking for £990,000 to make the memorial happen.

Last Updated 02 February 2018