Alex Allan sculpture unveiled at Forth Valley Sensory Centre in Camelon

The large spiral sculpture that has taken 20 different shapes since it was first created is by Scottish artist Alex Allan. It features concrete building blocks with black bollards to give a unique “pencil top” design. He combined the elements in different ways to create a new sculpture each day for 20 days.

It has now been unveiled at its permanent home outside the Camelon sensory centre’s popular café.

Its robust and tactile design, which is the 20th in Allan’s series of 20 creations, means it can be explored by those who are blind or visually impaired.

The sculpture was brought to the centre through the Sculpture Placement Group’s Adopt a Sculpture initiative, and Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership’s See Hear Fund. Staff at FVSC hope it will become a “talking point” for centre users and the wider community.

Sculptor Alex Allan said: “20/20 has spent the last 13 years getting ready to be unveiled at Forth Valley Sensory Centre. Originally made for my Master of Fine Art degree show at Edinburgh College of Art, the cast concrete bollards atop the work bear the scars of well over a decade of Scottish life.

“The twisted pier of slabs below, acquired for a show in 2013, meandered their way through my work until a residency at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in 2016, where I combined this menagerie of concrete objects modularly to create a new sculpture each day for 20 days.

“The final formation that these humble adult building blocks found themselves in at the end of that project is what has been delivered to Forth Valley Sensory Centre in 2023, after six years in my beloved parent's garden.”

Jacquie Winning, FVSC’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have Alex Allan’s sculpture, 20/20, standing proudly outside our café area. It is tactile and robust, meaning those with sight loss can interact with it, and its name has obvious connotations around vision.

“We hope the sculpture will spark intrigue among our centre users and members of the wider community, and become a talking point for the local area.”