09 June 2009
Could there ever be life after Formula 1? Surely a question asked by many enthusiasts of the world’s most expensive and highly visible sport.
SCULPTOR ALASTAIR GIBSON has the answer. Alastair builds fish. But these are not just any old fish. These sharks, mackerel and piranhas are modelled from high-tech carbon fibre and come equipped with fins, eyes and other fittings made of special motor racing components – they are, in fact, marine Grand Prix cars.
But then, Gibson has a unique insight into the industry, having worked his way to the top of Formula 1. Along the way he has produced several sculptures, including a hammerhead shark for driver Jensen Button’s dad, John – complete with fittings from Jensen’s race-winning car – and a piranha for Rubens Barrichello – again, complete with fittings from one of his cars. Now, leaving Honda after 10 years as Race Team Chief Mechanic, he has taken the plunge into full-time art.
“I just thought if I was going to do it, I had to do it properly,” he says.
That talent is a keen sense of art, sculpting in particular, and in recent years Alastair has quietly built up a reputation as a sculptor of unique pieces that represent a fusion of art and Formula 1 technology. His subject: fish. And the materials? Carbon fibre and other advanced materials used in F1 cars.
Every part of each sculpture is used on a Grand Prix car in one way or another, from the carbon fibre itself, used for the car body, to the polyurethane foam inside, which is used to make the drivers’ seats. Even the stand is made from the underside plank of a car that’s been in a successful race.
“I have always had a nagging interest in art as a hobby particularly carving and sculpting. During my early time at Benetton I decided to carve a shark out of wood and then had the idea of laying an aluminium skin over the carving. Friends that saw this were blown away and encouraged me to do more.
“Certainly what my experience in F1 has taught me is that there is always a better way of doing things. It also exposed me to hi-tech materials and processes and that led me to a point where I realised that working in wood was just too time consuming but I didn’t want to drift across to mimicking regular taxidermists by using fibreglass as the material for my work so I explored carbon fibre as my medium and that has been hugely satisfying.
“My first proper work in carbon fibre was quite a large hammerhead shark. BAT Italy bought that off me and then the commissions just started rolling in. To date I have completed 41 sculptures and have another 15 commissions to fill. One of my more recent commissions was a trout for a wealthy fisherman. He wanted a sculpture of a specific trout from his favourite fishing grounds and provided me with a set of pictures to work from. “He waited four years for that and was over the moon when I finally got it to him.
“Another commission that I have completed is a Piranha for Rubens Barrichello, this is actually one of a limited edition run of 25 examples that he has allowed me to do, 12 have been already sold. Yet another recent job was for the head of the Drambuie liqueur company. I produced a mackerel for him.
“The aspect that makes my work unique is the medium of carbon fibre and the fusion between the carbon and the other F1 materials. No one else is doing that. Carbon is extremely difficult to work with and the processes quite complex but I have the resources in Brackley to do the work to the highest standard, much of it alongside work for the Honda F1 team.
“I have found a niche that caters for the rich and famous and there is a strong demand for my product so it’s really an opportune time to take the leap into a new phase in my life. I would like to think that mostly anyone of reasonable means can buy a Rolex Daytona, but an Alastair Gibson original sculpture will always be a rarity. At the moment the market is right for that and I need to develop it.
Alastair has presented his artwork in galleries in London, Monaco and Cape Town and momentum is building around the works. Today, Artistika, an Oakville, ON based gallery www.artistikagallery.com has the exclusive for a couple of his pieces, including Barichello’s piranha.
If you are interested in an Alastair Gibson carbon fibre original remember they are strictly for the rich and famous (or those that aspire to those attributes), be prepared to shell out several thousand pounds, depending on the subject and scale of the model. Any takers for a full scale piranha or a brown trout embellished with inconel F1 exhausts? More info
