Date:	2008
Artist:	Colin Rose
Location:	A484 Loughor Bridge, Carmarthenshire

Carmarthenshire County Council and Safle are delighted
to announce the installation of a 12-meter high artwork
entitled ‘Swirl Cone’, a new sculpture by acclaimed
artist Colin Rose.

The ‘Swirl Cone’ is situated at the A484: Loughor Bridge (Bynea). As such the location is the gateway to Carmarthenshire from Swansea in the East.
Colin’s work provides a sense of arrival and marks the entry point for residents and visitors alike to Carmarthenshire.

Both the County Council and the Welsh Assembly Government's Department for the Economy and Transport have been championing a landscape strategy for improving key corridors and gateways. Through dialogues with The Bynea Forum and INA Bearings the opportunity to highlight the potential for Loughor Bridge roundabout as a key gateway to Carmarthenshire was formed.

Funding was sought from the County Council's 1 Fund (European Objective
1) and the Welsh Assembly's Environment Programme grant. The sculpture is based on this part of the County's pre-eminence in high quality engineering and metal production, particularly in the manufacture of motoring components. This iconic and stunning artwork welcomes visitors to Carmarthenshire, immediately prepares them for the vibrant and modern Trostre and Pemberton Parks and is a fitting image of Llanelli past and future.

Artist Colin Rose said,
“The designs I developed during my research relate to the industrial nature of the site, close to the metal mining and processing history of the area which continues to today with the INA Bearings factory near the site. This led me to respond both to the open landscape and the concerns to relate to the high standard of the industry in the area. The site demanded a work of scale and presence after looking at the surrounding landscape the ‘Cone’ appeared to me to be the direct solution to shape and fill the roundabout with a clean geometric form.”

The Council’s regeneration executive board member Cllr Clive Scourfield added:
“This is new territory for the county council in developing not just an attractive gateway with use of creative landscaping but to embellish it with a piece of distinctive and iconic artwork that will help make a visit to Carmarthen more memorable and unique”.

Colin Rose was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1950. He studied at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic (1973-76) and undertook post-graduate studies in sculpture at Newcastle University (1977-79). He works frequently to commission and has exhibited regularly in Britain and in Europe.

‘Over the past 30 years, the sculptor Colin Rose has gone from small scale parodies of daily Life to large scale public works, renowned for their subtlety and humor, are made in dialogue with their surroundings, creating striking interventions into both rural and Urban Landscapes’ – extract from Colin Rose - Edge to Edge by Marina Vaizey and Ian Thompson.