The Southsea Ultrasauros Dinosaur.
Be careful when you visit Southsea Common this summer as there is a 16 metre high dinosaur on the loose!
The huge dinosaur is the creation of Heather and Ivan Morison and is part of the Aspex Gallery summer season of exhibitions and events.
The sculpture was created using a steel fabricated framework, covered with a polyester exterior shell. It was constructed close to the City of
Kragujevac in Serbia, by ex employees of the Yugo car plant which closed in 2008.
The dinosaur depicted is an Ultrasauros, 'discovered' in Colarado USA in the late 1970's by Jim Jenson, at the time it was thought to have been one of the largest
land animals of all time at 16 metres high and 30 metres long.
However it was later recognised that the fossilised remains that had been discovered, were actually a mixture of two separate dinosaurs lying at the same place,
a large Brachiosaurid and a a huge Diplodocid dinosaur later classified as Supersaurus. This mixed up dinosaur became known as the 'accidental dinosaur'.
This sculpture Luna Park is part of the exhibition, An Unreachable Country. A Long Way To Go which is currently running at the Aspex Gallery
at Gunwharf Quays, from 31st July - 10th October 2010.
A full programme of dinosaur related exhibitions, activities and educational displays have been planned by Aspex Gallery, the full listing of events can be
seen by following this link to the Aspex Gallery site.
After the exhibition at Portsmouth, the Ultrasauros will visit Colchester and finally Cardiff Bay in spring 2011.
