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The fully accessible platform opens on Monday (15 August) so you can see work take place transforming the retired North Sea platform into the world-first SEE MONSTER, one of the UK’s largest art installations.
The platform will be open from 10am to 4pm but these times may vary so check social media pages on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for the latest on opening days and times.
It will be free to visit and you don’t need to book a time slot.
Access will be through the Bay Café entrance into the Tropicana, where it will be signposted.
Repurposing the platform into an art installation is a challenging and ambitious feat of design and engineering.
It aims to inspire global conversations about retired industrial structures and design-led solutions for a more sustainable future.
Once completed, SEE MONSTER will be experienced from the seafront, beach and on-board.
It will feature four publicly accessible levels, featuring:
- a 10-metre high waterfall
- a 6,000-piece kinetic installation, forming the monster’s shimmering scales
- an on-board oasis of grasses, plants and trees selected to thrive in a seaside microclimate, and
- a seated amphitheatre and broadcast studio, forming a platform for conversations about reuse and sustainable futures.
This ambitious project is one of 10 events taking place across the UK as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK.
SEE MONSTER is being brought to life by Leeds-based creative studio NEWSUBSTANCE in collaboration with Dose of Society, REDHOUSE Productions, Rocket Women, Empowering Women with Tech, sculptor Ivan Black, and representatives from The British Antarctic Survey, with support from us.
Create a SEE MONSTER Zine
Create your own handmade Zine and share your uncensored views about sustainability and the environment.
Artist Eleanor Cox, along with Culture Weston, has created a DIY Zine template for you to fill in with your own take on the world.
Pick up a copy from your local library, The Bay Café at the Tropicana, or email hello@cultureweston.org.uk
What's Next Festival now on
As work continues to transform the North Sea offshore platform into SEE MONSTER, the indoor spaces of the Tropicana are playing host the What’s Next Festival.
This festival is a series of cultural events with a focus on education, wellbeing and the creative arts.
The line-up includes:
- wonderful paintings, sculptures and mixed-media artwork from local artists is on display at the STEAM-themed (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) art exhibition. Using recycled materials, art merges with technology, science and sustainability. The exhibition is on until 5pm tomorrow (Saturday). Free entry
- meet the artists and celebrate the end of the exhibition during the Artists' Lounge, from 5-9pm tomorrow (Saturday). With music, a bar and the opportunity to chat with the artists. Free entry
- Tropicana From Page to Stage, creative writing courses for young people, are on Monday (15 August) and Monday 22 August. Free to attend but reservations needed
- work your body with Pilates and Franklin Method workshops on Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 August, and yoga on Tuesday 16 and Thursday 18 August
- Tropicana Re:Member – daily workshops exploring whether creative arts can help with wellbeing, loneliness, mental health and memory. 2pm-5pm, from Tuesday 16 to Thursday 18 August. Reservation needed
- discuss climate change in a series of educational panels, at Tropicana Co:Laboratory, from 2pm and 6pm. On Tuesday 23 discover the relationship between agriculture, biodiversity and sustainability. On Wednesday 24 learn about sea pollution and how to keep our beaches clean. On Thursday 25 August hear about young and community activism and how to get involved. Free entry
- YouTube sensation and musical theatre star Christina Bianco performs on Friday 26 August. Tickets from £15
- celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend in style and join us for an evening of vibrant live music, featuring Vinyl Seduction vs Digital Dreams, from 8pm-2am on Saturday 27 August. Tickets from £8.
- see the deviously delicious smash musical Little Shop of Horrors on stage, from Wednesday 31 August to Saturday 3 September. Tickets from £15
- see an inspiring and uplifting tale during the screen of Let's Get Reel: 2040, from 6pm on Monday 5 September. A young father’s vision for his four-year-old daughter shapes the narrative, aspiring that by her 21st birthday, we could have a thriving, fairer future for today’s children. Free to attend but reserve seats in advance
- experience an immersive installation featuring a short film and informative exhibition looking at past, present and future flood risk in Weston. The Flood exhibition runs from Monday 5 to Friday 16 September. Open 10am-5pm
- aspiring and established creative arts individuals and companies who want to develop new work can use space within the Tropicana for free from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 September
- theatre, physical storytelling, original music and live and recorded sound will blend together during Suspension Theatre’s performance of Sugar? on Saturday 10 September. Tickets £8-£10
- Hear hits from the 60s through to present day when The Haus Band! close the festival in style on Friday 16 September. Tickets £8-£10
For details of all events and to book tickets or reserve a free place, visit the What’s Next Festival website.