Hanging high above the Northern Quarter, on the corner of Tib Street and Church Street, shines the Tib Street Horn. This enigmatic, silver sculpture, half dragon and half saxophone, coils around the remains of an old Victorian hat factory.
Commissioned in 1996, it is part of a series entitled “Unsound Instruments” by Cornish artist David Kemp.
Kemp himself said of the piece, “It’s not really a saxophone, nor a dragon…. Perhaps it’s a listening device, filtering the left-over sounds from the street corner below, where the past bumps into the future, shooting the lights.”
Whatever it represents, it is a striking piece that has survived the Manchester weather well and appears to stand guard over the entrance to the Northern Quarter. The puzzle it presents fits perfectly with the quirky nature of this exciting area of Manchester.
Travel with Intent 
This is awesome!! I love how even the artist himself wasn’t really sure what exactly it was.
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A bit like I’m never sure how my photos will turn out!
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Where is this? I’m new here, so forgive if it’s self evident. You mention Manchester, but I’m wondering which Manchester? In any case, very cool piece indeed… 🙂
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Manchester, England. Don’t worry, it’s not obvious except I’m based in England. But I write about lots of other places too so apologies for any confusion.
And welcome!
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I saw the dragon first … then the saxophone! A fantastic piece!
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Reblogged this on msamba.
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Love it!
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I think I see the dragon more than the saxophone, but then again I’m not so sure. It’s a very interesting piece- I could stare at the details for hours. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
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I want to see it ! It looks really amazing !
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It is. And it’s hard to capture properly in a photo. Especially as the Manchester sky is often grey or wet!
Sent from my iPhone
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I love it! 🙂
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Bit wacky, but there’s a beauty to the fantasy
Sent from my iPhone
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veeery interesting 🙂
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