The Environmental Public Art Project
Three new artworks have been unveiled in public spaces around Yarra in mid-2011 as part of Council's Environmental Public Art project.
The project comes out of Council's New Public Art Initiative, which has provided a $100,000 contribution to fund public art opportunities in the City of Yarra.
The OUT THERE Billboard Program in Collingwood is another project linked to the New Public Art Initiative.
Through consultation with the Yarra Arts Advisory Panel (YAARTS) and community, a commission was developed to support the production of three public artworks of $15,000 each.
The only requirement of the commission was that the artworks focused on an environmental theme.
After an open expression of interest process, nine artists were shortlisted to develop a design proposal. From these nine submissions, three works were selected to proceed to commission.
The Environmental Public Art Project (EPA) has given artists the opportunity to create a work in a public space.
Artists were asked to create a work which related to one or more of the six key features of Council’s Environment Strategy: Towards Local Sustainability 2008-2020.
- Climate Change
- Changing Energy Futures
- Changing Water Futures
- Food Insecurity
- Growing Population
- Changing Community Expectations.
About the Works
Artist: Hotham Street Ladies (Cassandra Chilton, Molly O’Shaughnessy, Sarah Parkes, Caroline Price, Lyndal Walker)
Title: Green Bin
Location: Clifton Hill (cnr Hoddle Street and Turnbull Street)
Theme: Food Insecurity, Changing Community Expectations
Green Bin is an over scaled wheelie bin to be located in a garden bed in Clifton Hill.
The sculpture will be detailed with decorative and functional scrolls referencing the wrought iron gates and doors found in Victorian terraces and post war housing throughout the City of Yarra.
Low maintenance and drought resistant plantings, some of which will be edible, will adopt the work as a trellis, bringing the work to life.
The artwork is tactile and interactive and aims to show that growing your own food is a real option, with benefits such as reducing the environmental costs of food miles, packaging and industrial farming.
As we face a future where there is increasing concern around the environment and major changes, small acts on a local level can be empowering and contribute to the solution.
Artist: Centre for Electronic Media Art (CEMA) (Troy Innocent, Joel Collins, Indae Hwang, Yun Tae Nam)
Title: Drop Zone
Location: Parkland,
Swan Street and Yarra Boulevard, Burnley
Theme: Changing Water Futures
This artwork envisions a future for Australia where the impact of decreasing water availability has had a more dramatic effect than any of the predictions.
The shortage is so severe that military-like water ‘drop zones’ constructed of common rainfall storage tanks have been established across the public parks of the City of Yarra for access on a first come, first serve basis.
However, as the water is only replenished through rain catchment, the tanks may only offer infrequent relief for the City of Yarra residents, standing as hollow reminders of the effects of inaction on the shaping of sustainable national water use.
Artist: Daniel Hourigan
Title: Future Obscura
Location: Richmond
Theme: Growing Population
This artwork seeks to engage audiences with a revealing look at the future of Australia’s increasing population.
By using the centuries’ old but often forgotten technique of the camera obscura, the work will highlight the challenges facing our population as we expand and move into the future.
The concept takes the form of a fractal triangle arrangement which is an infinitely replicating pattern, mirroring our ever increasing population.
The artwork is an interactive piece, encouraging people to be inquisitive and explore the sculpture and its meaning,
For more details about Council’s Environment Strategy visit:www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/Environment/Environment-Strategy/
Further information
Siu Chan
Co-ordinator, Arts and Cultural Services
9205 5045
Siu.Chan@yarracity.vic.gov.au
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