French cyclist champion Pierre Trentin speeds on the way of the gold of the Olympic cycling 1000m time trial event 18 October 1968 in Mexico City. During his career, Pierre Trentin captured two gold medals, tandem with Daniel Morelon and 1000m time trial in 1968, and seven world records- kilometre and 500 metres. (via Photo from Getty Images)
Charybdis by William Pye // Sunderland, 2000
“The sirens Charybdis and Scylla resided in the Sicilian Sea. Homer tells us that because Charybdis had stolen the oxen of Hercules, Zeus struck her with a thunderbolt and changed her into a whirlpool whose vortex swallowed up ships. In Charybdis the circular movement of water inside a transparent acrylic cylinder forms an air-core vortex in the centre. Steps wrap around the cylinder and allow spectators to view the vortex from above. The cylinder was manufactured in Grand Junction, Colorado.
At time of completion Charybdis was William Pye’s largest air core vortex water sculpture to date, and used for only the second time the clear acrylic polymer he employed in Clearwater Cube. This material has enabled Pye to extend his sculptural language and to explore more ways in which to challenge the wayward element of water. A high level of water filtration is essential for maintaining transparency and thereby expressing the drama of the vortex.”
