In 2013, Belfast sculptor Brendan Jamison did something that probably only a few people attempted. He asked complete strangers to help him build a miniature city, one block at a time, using only sugar and glue. According to Jamison's own project archive, more than 5,000 people spent over four weeks in late 2013 creating a sprawling 'city of the future' at Belfast's Ulster Museum out of 500,000 sugar cubes. It turned into one of the largest hands-on art projects that Northern Ireland has ever seen, with no professional construction contractors, architects, or engineers involved, just artists and volunteers working with their hands.
How was the sugar city built
The project was called Sugar Metropolis and was exhibited at the Ulster Museum in Belfast as part of the 132nd Annual Exhibition of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts. Between 18 October and 17 November 2013, all visitors to the museum were invited to help build the city. Jamison collaborated with four other sculptors, Lydia Holmes, Mark Revels, Mary McCaffrey and David Turner, who alternated with visitors to demonstrate how to stack and glue the cubes into stable structures. The project was supported by KPMG, Arts and Business N.I and Belfast City Council. Over four weeks, more than 5,000 people helped build a "city of the future" out of 500,000 sugar cubes, figures published on Jamison's own studio archive said; the finished work measured 180 by 900 by 700 centimeters and was on public display in the museum until January 5, 2014.
