By Jigga Wright—
THOUSANDS of fans have been converging on an exhibition dubbed ‘Yard Art’ in the town of Varel, Germany to see ‘Bolt of Bolts’ a larger-than-life iron image of track superstar Usain Bolt.
Fuelled by the sprinter’s exploits at the World Championships in Bejiing, China, the statue has drawn throngs, and attracted the attention of German newspapers and television stations.
Diedel Kloever, a 54-year-old musician and visual artist, made the statue. He was born in Varel and is pleased that the statue has been drawing such large crowds.
“Bolt is a sprint extraordinaire, one of the greatest that the world has ever seen. I am really proud to have ties with Jamaica,” said Kloever, whose wife, Marcia Kloever aka Sista Gracy, is a reggae singer from St Mary.
The statue of Bolt, made entirely of bolts and screws was inspired by his first world record-breaking run in Berlin 2009. It was completed in 2012 after an exhausting labour of love by its creator.
Battered tin platings were used for the athlete’s clothing, and even the athlete’s Puma logo
made of three tongs and a crane hook is included.
“It was hard to get it done, it needed a certain amount of skill, and I had it. it was particularly tricky with the face and head since Bolt never actually came to the yard for me to model the work, so I had to use pictures and it worked out really good,” he said.
Bolt has never seen the statue, but he did repost a link to the photo of it on his Facebook page.
Diedel once played bass for the Herbman Band, known throughout Germany for songs like My Praises, a collaboration with Sugar Minott; Yardy Dub, Shining Star and Spiritual and Humble.
Twelve years ago, he refocused on his creative side, and began welding creations from scrap metal.
The works are displayed annually in the Yard Art exhibition.
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