Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, NSW

Today we thought we’d showcase a beautiful exhibition that’s happening across the border, the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize in Sydney. It was established in 2001 and has risen to become one of the premier small sculpture competitions in Australia.

Although the exhibition doesn’t officially open until the 26 of October, the finalists are now up on the website for people to check out. You can also vote for your favourite and help choose the People’s Choice award.

Here are a few highlights, but be sure to check out the rest of the finalists too…

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – Urban Artscape by Zabelski Han

Urban Artscape
Zabelski Han
Brady Rd, Dandenong North
2002

The Brady Road area presents itself as a normal suburban neighbourhood. Houses built on suburban blocks and carefully maintained front yards are a key feature of the suburban landscape. The good times that can be had working in the garden, tinkering with the car, going down the street are all part of daily life in North Dandenong.

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – Chaise Lounge by Big Fish P/L

Chaise Lounge (locally known as the Casting Couch)
Artists/Designers: Big Fish P/L
Drum Theatre Stage Door
2006

With a prop like appearance, the bright red whimsical Casting Couch at the Drum Theatre was created to be a talking point as well as being utilised by visitors, shoppers and performers.

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Melbourne CBD Street Art Tour

Last week some of the office crew went on a Street Art tour of the Melbourne CBD. Our tour guide was a very knowledgable chap named Micheal who took us on an hour and a half walk filled with street art of all kinds and really interesting stories. We took about a thousand photos, check out some of them below:

Micheal down Hoiser Lane telling us a bit about the history of the place

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – The Books by Geoff Hogg and created by SITE RMIT Public Art

The Books
Geoff Hogg, and created by SITE RMIT Public Art
Springvale Road Strip Centre, outside Springvale Primary School

Books have literally moved from the school into the street with this public art work! Comprising twelve larger than life concrete sculptures shaped like books, the aptly titled ‘The Books’ can be found scattered and piled in front of Springvale Primary School.
The giant concrete books, with their collective weight of over 12 tonnes, are certainly an impressive sight to behold. While they were created to improve the streetscape of the Springvale Shopping Centre precinct, ‘The Books’ also act as seats and a resting area for parents waiting to pick up their children from school and weary shoppers.

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – Freedom Cycle by Grant Finck

Freedom Cycle
Falkiner Reserve, Heatherton Road, Dandenong

Grant Finck’s work, Freedom Cycle, depicts a blue metal cyclist who seems to have escaped the bustling traffic of the nearby main roads and is enjoying the freedom of the bike path in serene Falkiner Reserve. Nearby is a large yellow diamond shaped sculpture with the same cyclist image cut out of its centre. Looking much like an enlarged street sign, the sculpture highlights the presence of the bike path.

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – Old Grenda’s Bus Depot

DEPOT – 2008
Old Grenda’s Bus Depot
9 Foster St, Dandenong

Depot was an installation of contemporary artworks created by seven artists – Campbell Drake, James Carey, Susan Jacobs, Ben Morieson, Matt Morrow, Cameron Robbins and Robbie Rowlands – at the decommissioned Grenda’s bus depot. Depot was open for one week in April 2008prior to the site being demolished. The artworks, which were be made on site, responded to the industrial spaces of the historic depot and pre-empted its demolition.

The project provided an opportunity for the community to stop, listen and experience the spaces that have housed an iconic Dandenong business for more than 50 years.
Present and former staff and the broader community were invited to relive and honour a celebrated workspace, and in doing so witness the skills of artists transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.

…..Here at the old Grendas bus depot in Dandenong a group of seven artists are making work from something that isn’t easy to describe. Ostensibly their subject is a series of buildings, a bus depot vacated just a week ago: bricks, grease, old lockers, asphalt and the veneer clad boardroom. But space is as much their material as matter, and perhaps time also…… Geraldine Barlow

For information and images about Depot go to http://depot-installation.blogspot.com

You can see more of Cameron Robbin’s work here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pb_l4A4aIY&feature=player_embedded#

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – Speed Cheek by Clare McCracken

Speed Cheek 2008
Oakwood Park, Noble Park

Clare McCracken is the creator of two interactive, environmentally sustainable sculptures.
The sculptures are inspired by Jeffery Smart’s surreal urban landscapes and inspired by the backdrop of the Eastlink motorway; designed for bike riders and pedestrians to measure their kilometres per hour.
Using sophisticated motorway technology Speed Cheek are two speed checking devices placed beside the shared user path that runs through the heart of Oakwood Park measuring the speeds of bike riders and pedestrians going both from east to west and west to east.

Speeds are displayed on two solar powered LCD screens which hover above the path so that park users can see the pace at which they are moving. The sculptures will provide a free interactive experience for local and visiting schools, recreational groups, cyclists and residents.

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Occasional Public Art Tuesday – Big Fish

Dandenong South Gateway
Hammond Road, Dandenong South
Big Fish

In 2004 this two stage public art project was undertaken. It aimed to reveal an understanding of the communities of Dandenong South, the unique qualities of the area, its residents, community activities, history and culture.

Initially, the project focus was on consultation including discussions and activities that involved residents of Dandenong South sharing stories, ideas and insights of the local area. These ideas were expressed through photographs, text, audio recordings and film footage.

The knowledge, ideas and insights collected from the community were used to inform the design of a permanent public art work for the Hammond Road Site in Dandenong South. The artwork acts as a gateway marker for the area – highly visible with a strong visual impact for pedestrians and motorists.

Furthermore, the material obtained was compiled into an eight minute movie which was accepted into the Memory and Place collection at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) at Federation Square. The movie describes the unique nature of the Dandenong South community.

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Public Art Tuesday – Vessels of Light by Sinatra Murphy P/L

Welcome to the first of our new series – Public Art Tuesdays. Tuesdays always seem a little bland, don’t they? Monday is the start of the week, Wednesday is the day you know is in the middle of the week, so it’s got something going for it too. Thursday is almost Friday and Friday, well, Friday is the end of the working week. But Tuesdays don’t really have anything attached to them. So we thought we’d enliven Tuesdays by making it Public Art Day, every week.

First cab off the rank for our Public Art Tuesdays is the Vessels of Light by Sinatra Murphy P/L.

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