Austcorp will feature works of art by emerging Australian artists in the landscaped courtyard and entrance lobby of Prominence, Zetland, and the entrance lobby at 370 Docklands Drive, Melbourne.
Column Wall – Hidden + Revealed
Adrian Page's illuminated, stainless steel sculptures stand proudly in the foyer at the newly completed 370 Docklands Drive, Melbourne.
Austcorp engaged Brecknock Consulting to work closely with VicUrban to curate and project manage the artwork for the new 5-Star Green-Star 'as-designed' building at 370 Docklands Drive. The result is a series of sculptural forms, by artist Adrian Page that provide a stunning entry statement that bridges the public realm at the entry and the building foyer.
These columns represent a typical icon from the beginning of architecture through to this contemporary era, where early hand crafted stone gives way to computerized laser-cut technology. However the main research was for the similarity between the structural qualities found in contemporary architecture (steel vertical ribs) and in things of nature (cacti vertical ribs), where the structure is an integral part of the surface’s pattern and purpose.
Common to both nature and architecture is a patina that develops with time on each via natural and man-made elements, and speaks silently of the experience with obvious markings. Likewise, these columns have an applied patina in the form of numerals, and they too speak silently as coded text – hidden and revealed. These finely laser cut numerals contain encoded text providing a tantalising puzzle for both the students who will soon occupy the building and for visitors to the Docklands precinct.
At night the artwork lighting adds another dimension to the foyer and the artwork making it almost surreal or other worldly. 370 Docklands Drive is well complimented by this stunning artwork.
Good Catch
Marley Dawson has created 'Good Catch' especially for Prominence. Austcorp became aware of Dawson's work through the exhibition Rookie at the Sydney head office of Deloitte organised by Austcorp Art Collection Curator Barbara Flynn.
Standing at approximately 2.5m high, Good Catch hinges on the illusion of an immense box that appears to be supported by a fragile stick. The artist's particular choice of materials further accentuates this contradiction, since the bisalloy steel of the box invites corrosion while the stainless steel of the stick resists it.
The key aesthetic of the work relates to the relationship between the implied movement of the box section which has been made to look as if it could drop, and the feeling of 'danger' that is evoked at the thought of being trapped within in it. The 'box' section is produced at a scale that references the human form. The notion of a ‘box’ suggests both the safety associated with various forms of human habitation (home) and the fear of forced containment.
The work was inspired by childhood experiments as well as historical ink drawings of traps designed for use in the Australian bush. The title of the work parodies the inherent dichotomies of danger and safety, fear and excitement, comic and serious.
Situated within Prominence, Good Catch invites a comparison between past and present forms of human survival and entertainment.
We expect that the residents of Prominence will gain a lot of enjoyment from unravelling the layers of meaning that are implicit in the work and that the sculpture will rapidly become the focal point of the courtyard - the logical place for residents to meet and gather.
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