One of the most unusual projects that marine Aberdeen-based consulting and safety specialists AMS Global Group has tackled has taken to the water again, 33 years after it was first created.
The Floating Head, a sculpture by artist Richard Groom and the centrepiece for Glasgow’s 1988 Garden Festival, has been lovingly restored over the past six months, and is now on public display at at Govan Docks.
For more than 30 years, it lay lost and abandoned in a boatyard, until the family of the late artist managed to track it down and decided they wanted to restore and refloat it.
Inspired by the carvings on Easter Island, the 30ft head, which was designed and built on a steel mesh frame covered with a cement render, had deteriorated over the years and had to be assessed for damage.
Andy Groom, brother of the late artist, approached Neil Carr, a director at AMS to see if the firm could help.
AMS donated the services of associate surveyor, Bob Sinclair, to survey the sculpture to determine its condition and whether it was repairable.
He carried out an extensive survey of the 27-tonne head, producing a full report of its condition and details of the remedial work that would have to be carried out to make it seaworthy again.
Mr Carr said: “We were delighted to help with this fantastic project.
“Although the vessel itself is different to what we usually work with, the principles involved in carrying out a survey like this are similar.
“Floating concrete is not easy and surveying such a vessel needs a specialist of Bob’s experience.”
The restoration project was carried out with support from the Sculpture Placement Group (SPG), an organisation funded by Creative Scotland which helps bring sculpture to different audiences.
Mr Groom said: “We could not have done this without the support we got from AMS and from the SPG and all the other supporters who came forward to help.
“Our family was touched at Richard’s funeral in 2019 by the number of friends and colleagues who spoke about his work, particularly the floating head. That made us determined to find it and fix it.”
“The support we got after that just grew and grew and that gave us the encouragement to keep going and the means to make it happen.”