‘Pipe Dreams’ Public Art Commission to grace Pipemakers Park:
‘Pipe Dreams’ is now set to become a reality. Renowned Australian artist Matthew Harding is the successful artist selected for Maribyrnong City Council’s latest $170,000 Public Art Commission. He will install his public art piece ‘Pipe Dreams’ at Thompson Reserve, the entrance to Pipemakers Park in Maribyrnong. The ‘Pipe Dreams’ sculpture will be a robust, complex and large-scale sculptural form fabricated from three layers of interwoven 316 Marine Grade stainless steel rods and tubes, ranging in height from 8 to 12 metres. The sculpture will be lit by three in-ground Luminaire lights to provide a gentle spectrum of changing light, and enhance the artwork’s moiré patterns at dusk….
http://cityofmaribyrnong.com.au
Press Release:
‘Pipe Dreams’ is now set to become a reality.
Renowned Australian artist Matthew Harding is the successful artist selected for Maribyrnong City Council’s latest $170,000 Public Art Commission. He will install his public art piece ‘Pipe Dreams’ at Thompson Reserve, the entrance to Pipemakers Park in Maribyrnong.
The ‘Pipe Dreams’ sculpture will be a robust, complex and large-scale sculptural form fabricated from three layers of interwoven 316 Marine Grade stainless steel rods and tubes, ranging in height from 8 to 12 metres.
The sculpture will be lit by three in-ground Luminaire lights to provide a gentle spectrum of changing light, and enhance the artwork’s moiré patterns at dusk.
Matthew Harding’s concept was inspired by the industrial heritage of the site, specifically, the pipemaking techniques such as the ‘steel cages’ that were used to reinforce concrete pipes – a similar methodology to the one the artist uses in his own sculptural practice.
Harding’s concept also references the energy and flow of the iconic Maribyrnong River and symbolises hopes and aspirations of the local community.
The proposed concept was considered by the Selection Panel, comprised of local artists, a landscape architect, a curator and a range of Council staff. The Panel recognised that the concept was a unique, contemporary and impressive design that will function equally as a gateway marker and interactive artwork for visitors and community.
Experienced in working with a variety of media, and honouring a range of aspects of the City of Maribyrnong, Harding is an exemplary addition to the city’s existing thriving, cutting-edge arts scene. Council invests significant resources to deliver a solid mix of diverse public art in well loved spaces and places as well as community oriented festivals and events.
Two recent public art installations exemplify this commitment. Earlier in 2015, along with the opening of the Braybrook Community Hub, Council was proud to launch public art on the site of the Hub. ‘People’ by TRǘC (a collaboration between David Burrows and Jonathan Leahey) and ‘Pollyanna’s Egg’ by Archinauts (a collaboration between Sahra Stolz and Jannette Le) now grace the entrance of the Hub, engaging our community in arts in ever corner of the city.
In 2013, Council also installed the public art piece, Welcome Bowl (also entitled ‘Wominjeka tarnuk-yooroom’) by artists Vicki Couzens, Maree Clarke and Jeph Neale, in Nicholson Street Mall in the heart of Footscray. The artwork is made from ten large scale blue stones or granite boulders in the shape of a traditional Indigenous ‘coolamon’ (a wooden vessel).
Maribyrnong City Council has part of its annual budget allocated to commissioning permanent public art. The commissioning of public art is guided by “On the Edge” Council’s Public Art Strategy.
“By virtue of their originality, artworks play a key role in making places feel unique. Encouraging artists to take a site-specific approach and also to develop artwork for a social as well as built context will further express how one place is different from another. Improvement projects in suburban areas provide rich opportunities for place-making and community engagement to underpin the conceptual rationale of place based artwork.”
On the Edge Maribyrnong Public Art Strategy
The ‘Pipe Dreams’ public art project is expected to be delivered by December 2015.
A Word from the Mayor, Cr Nam Quach
“Every visual art project has the capacity to change the felt experience of our city – and as our city has evolved, so has our public art.
Council strongly supports both Maribyrnong’s rich history and the thriving and dynamic arts scene. Maribyrnong is the proud home of a variety of arts and cultural organisations and we are committed to helping our diverse and lively arts communities thrive.
I am looking forward to when the project is delivered and I know that ‘Pipe Dreams’ will sit gracefully in Pipemakers Park space, enhancing the natural parkland setting of Thompson Reserve.”