Fabricating the Steel Bull of Spielberg

Abstract

In 2010, Red Bull commissioned Clemens Neugebauer and Martin Kölldorfer to make a large-scale sculpture for their racetrack in Spielberg, Austria. While there had been a previous proposal in 2004 to construct a 23 meter high bull jumping over the very last curve of the race track to provide an appropriate setting for TV coverage of racing events etc., that particular project was cancelled along with the entire racetrack due to environmental concerns. However, the idea of a Red Bull racetrack at Spielberg was revived in 2008, though at a significantly smaller scale. Consequently, in 2010 the idea of a Red Bull landmark emerged again, aiming to create a sculpture that would be big enough to be seen from the nearby motorway — a considerable distance of nearly two kilometres away — by occupants of passing cars.