igus components has helped bring five full-scale Megalosaurus sculptures to life at Blenheim Palace's ‘Dinosaurs are forever’ exhibition.
In 1824, just outside Blenheim Palace, fossils from the first named dinosaur, Megalosaurus, were discovered. Eighteen years later, it was grouped with two other discoveries and collectively named ‘Dinosaurs’. By 1852, dino-mania had swept the globe.
Future Fossils is an art and innovation studio founded by artist and writer Jay Jay Burridge, creating full-scale posable dinosaur sculptures with a 21st century twist.
Displaying prehistoric skeletons through the lens of the future, they are built from advanced modern materials that explore the space between biology and machine, science fact and fiction, imagining what the dinosaurs of tomorrow might be.
To achieve freedom of movement and allow for the digits in the skeleton to be individual posed, approximately 160 ball-and-socket couplings from igus were used within the articulated hands and feet of five full-scale, 9m long Megalosaurus sculptures for the Dinosaurs Are Forever exhibition at Blenheim Palace. The challenge was to ensure these skeletons were positioned naturally while remaining lightweight, robust, and weather-resistant.
Traditional metal components would have added weight, increased complexity and required ongoing maintenance. By contrast, the igubal ball-and-socket couplings provide a lightweight, lubrication-free solution capable of withstanding outdoor conditions while allowing the natural movement and positioning required to bring these prehistoric giants to life.
Jay Jay Burridge, founder and artist of Future Fossils, said: “Imagine what the dinosaurs of the future might look like, rooted in science, shaped by culture, and built with the technology of tomorrow.
“Building dinosaurs for the future means looking beyond traditional materials and engineering. igus motion plastics gave me a beautifully simple way to articulate the fingers and toes — lightweight, weatherproof and able to move exactly as I wanted.
“It’s a tiny piece of engineering repeated throughout a 9m dinosaur, but it makes an enormous difference to how alive the sculpture feels.”
The exhibition is running at Blenheim Palace and available to visit until the 1st of November, open to the public every day from 10am to 5:30pm.