Continuing our look at sculptures and statues that have changed location Rob Smith looks at one that was designed to move.

IFO in its new location between Kings Cross and St Pancras

Part of the huge on going redevelopment of Kings Cross Goods Yard has involved a public art programme called RELAY, which will see art works that link the different spaces. The first one commissioned was by French artist Jacques Rival, called IFO (Identified Flying Object), which first appeared on Goods Way in 2011. The sculpture looks like a giant bird cage and features a swing so you can imagine yourself as a canary in the cage. During the day the cage stores up solar energy, which at night is used to power brightly coloured lights. The sculpture took a break for a couple of years, parked at the back of the Kings Cross Skip Garden. However it has recently returned in a prominent new location between Kings Cross and St Pancras stations.

 IFO in its original location in 2011

However this isn’t the limit of IFO’s wanderings. Rival originally designed the sculpture so it can be hoisted up by a crane and swung around, so the lights move around the King’s Cross sky. This was supposed to happen once a month, though in practice it has been a lot less frequent. Sure enough there were reports of UFO’s in the Kings Cross area after the sculpture’s first outing.

You can see IFO on my walk All Change at Kings Cross on 12th June