All is moving ahead on the artwork in the park front!
Recently, we have been looking at some improvements in the park to support the type and location of public art that will be landing there. This will hopefully include some planting and some seating plus mulching out existing garden beds, some additional turfing and moving one of the the existing monuments to a location that provides a better context - like adjacent to a tree of similar type to that mentioned in the plaque on the monument.
Attached is a rather technical drawing which has been significantly pared down to indicate where these proposed works will take place plus show the desirable locations for the artwork to be located. Sebastian's work is not evident here as his work will be on the wall of the underpass in McLachlan Street.
You will note that Adrian's 'Red Sticks' help to define an expanded area of grassed open space in one area of the park, while Simone's organic 'Swamp Forms" provide the opportunity for a real sense of entrance to the eastern pathway of the park. Landscape form - in the way planting and grassed areas are shaped - is intended to both respond to and enhance these very features.
Genevieve has been talking to all sorts of people in council to garner support and funds for some of this additional work and we still don't know what or how much will be possible, given our limited budget constraints. I will keep you posted of any outcomes.
As always, your comments would be welcome.
Cheers
Peter
BEFORE ...
AFTER ... maybe ...
Comments
hey,
i dont know what is decided as far as landscaping is concerned but i thought it would be nice to go with a tropical theme environment, this way it will provide a calm and relaxing envrionment and at the same would be low to maintain as far as hedging and such is concerned. Maybe if the landscape was done it layers, so foxtail, golden cane and triangle palms near the back intermixed with giant strelitzia, cordylines (the burgundy, green, variegated as well as the full outdoor ones like "chocolate falls") and then including liriope, crotons, bromeliads, ixoras and canna lillies. I just think that the garden could also be a peice of artwork and could be a really good drawing point to bring people. Also the local school might be willing to get involved in the maintenance for agriculture science and the local tafes for horticulture and rural operations. Just a few ideas, sorry if i repeated things that were already knocked back or decided upon.
Hi Alex
Great to hear from you and your comments.
All of your comments are valuable and the suggestion for local input from the school and outside from other organisations is a great idea, but a little bit difficult to manage in such a location.
At the moment, though, we are more than a bit constrained by budget and what we are able to do in the park. The landscape has been designed to mainly support the artwork and provide a 'green base' for the Red Sticks and Swamp Forms tro emerge from and really anchor them into the site. The design also is intended to accentuate and define spaces that are articulated by the artwork. The Red Sticks define a semi-circular open space and act as a backdrop to it, while the Swamp Forms provide organic 'entrance' forms to the pathway to the east - and the tunnel.
Planting selection has been based on what is going to provide a suitable 'anchor' for the artwork, what is readily available and inexpensive and easy to grow with no irrigation. Unfortunately, a lot of tropical and subtropical plants don't do all that well in such a dry location. The Parks section from Brisbane City Council is providing the plants and doing the work to get them established on the site, and we are very grateful for their input. The Parks section also required that the plants were easily maintainable and did not visually obscure potential hazards - such as hypodermic needles and people. We have got around these things largely by selecting appropriate plants and spacing them accordingly.
The landscape always has potential to be 'art' itself, but sometimes it is better to hold back so as not to obscure or diminish other intent. In this case, the landscape is a support for the artwork and a spatial organiser of the park site. I suppose it starts to be become more artful in the way the plants are laid out. Those in the vicinity of the Red Sticks are to form bold radiating rays that line up with the orientation of the poles, while the landscaping around the Swamp Forms is much looser and in a more organic form - just like the sculpture.
Anyway, great comments Alex and shows some very keen thinking. At least some of your suggestions may happen one day when redevelopment comes to this end of the Valley - along with much needed lighting, irrigation and people!
Cheers
Peter
Adrian and Simone have set-out where all of the components of their artworks are to be located on-site and we have met with people from Brisbane City Council and underground service locators to make sure that none of the footings for the artworks will interfere with electricity, water, sewerage, stormwater or telecommunications!
I have updated the park plan to reflect all that we have looked at on-site. The main change is the arrangement of Simone's work, but this is only minor and the current locations work really well with the entrance to the park from both the tunnel and the path at the corner of McLachlan and Marshall Streets.
Both of the attachments have been altered to reflect this update.
Cheers
Peter