But when it comes to sealing his legacy, it seems Boris Johnson is prepared to make an exception. The London Mayor is planning a £15million monument intended to rival the Eiffel Tower to mark his term in office.
The edifice, which will be built in the capital’s Olympic Park in time for the 2012 Games, has already been nicknamed the 'Piffle Tower' after Johnson's 'inverted pyramid of piffle' comments made during his denial of allegations of an extra-marital affair in 2004.
A panel is currently considering five submitted designs, with the winner likely to be announced in the next fortnight. So far there are no inverted pyramids among them, however one early submission by Paul Fryer shows the monumental scale of the project.
Six times taller than the Angel of the North, near Gateshead, his proposed sculpture, called Transmission, is 400ft tall and features a translucent structure with viewing decks towering above the Olympic Park. Its steel frame is inspired by a pylon — perhaps in a nod to Mittal’s business, which has earned his family a £10.8 billion fortune.
It would be lit at night and powered by solar panels. Last night Brian Sewell, the art critic, attacked the Johnson's plans as 'fascist gigantism'.
'Our country is littered with public art of absolutely no merit,' he told the Sunday Times.
'We are entering a new period of fascist gigantism. These are monuments to egos and you couldn't find a more monumental ego than Boris.'
Johnson's monument is part of an extensive cultural programme planned to celebrate the 2012 Olympics. Twelve public artworks commissioned by the Cultural Olympiad last week to celebrate the Games include a giant figure of Lady Godiva, which will be led in procession from Coventry to London, a three-mile tower of vapour rising from a dock in Liverpool, a pair of 30ft crocheted lions and a tiny island that will be tugged from the Arctic to England to provoke discussion about climate change.
The works are part of a £5.4million project called Artists Taking the Lead, funded by the Arts Council. Securing Mittal's backing is something of a coup for Johnson who, since the onset of the recession, has been urging London’s super-rich to 'give something back to society'.
The mayor has said he wants to encourage an 'American-style culture of philanthropy', with wealthy bankers and businessmen donating to the arts, education and transport.
A friend of 59-year-old Mittal, who has previously donated £2million to Labour, told the Sunday Times: 'He loves living in London and wants to give something back to the city.
'The Olympics are obviously a very important event and he wants to be able to contribute to a legacy project that people will be able to enjoy for many years to come.'
Mittal and his wife Usha live in a mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens, which he bought in 2004 from the Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone for £57million.
Although Mittal is Britain's richest man, his wealth has plunged by £16.9 billion in a year because of turmoil in the stock market and fears of declining demand for steel.
A source close to Johnson said: 'He wants to build something quite stunning in its ambition, like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty — a tribute to London that people will fall in love with.'
In 2004 Johnson, the former editor of the Spectator, famously described newspaper allegations that he had conducted an affair with Petronella Wyatt, a writer and colleague at the magazine as 'an inverted pyramid of piffle'.
He was subsequently sacked from the Tory front bench after her mother, Lady Verushka Wyatt, revealed the 35-year-old had undergone an abortion after falling pregnant by Johnson.
A spokesman for Johnson said: 'The mayor is keen to see stunning, ambitious, world-class art in the Olympic Park and has been working with the Olympic Delivery Authority over many months to explore a series of commissioning projects.
'He is also in touch with prominent figures in the art establishment and philanthropists about taking these forward and getting private backing. 'This work is at an early stage and details will be announced when the projects are confirmed.' [kompas.com ]
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