Wattilisk

If there was any justice in the world, Wattilisk would be positioned in a busier part of Birmingham where it would undoubtedly be enjoyed by many people.
However, situated outside the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts this excellent piece is probably mostly known to Judges, barristers, police and career criminals. This 1988 sculpture by Vincent Woropay depicts five stone busts of James Watt balanced on top of one another, decreasing in size like a Russian Doll. The inspiration for the piece is clearly Watt’s art-​carving machine invention. Starting with a stone block at the base, each head becomes increasingly more sculptured and refined until Watt’s visage is fully apparent at the summit. However in depicting Watt the inventor, it seems as if each block of stone is thinking and reasoning the other, until the idea is fully realised in an end-​product.
One of Brum’s best without question.