lc2009 workshops

workshop 1

site impressions

lost ... forbidden ... unsafe ... irrelevant ... left-over ... empty ... delinquent ... neglected ... noisy

re-generator terms

reveal ... expose ... illuminate ... welcome ... invite ... attract ... found ... relevant ... worthwhile ... destination

team ideas from LC2008

• introduce terraces to view spectacle
• bridge major roads for pedestrian movement - increase safety, visibility and flow
• revitalise the Marshall Street streetscape and shopping experience
• introduce a graphic treatment to the existing tunnel entrance / exit
• plant abundantly to announce and articulate spaces
• soften edges with water; introduce creative lighting and sound elements

directions - generators

• add layers - physical, sensory, cultural
• make safe, shelter, enclose, relax
• add comfort
• add fun
• add interest
• add friendliness
• add life ... add people !
• give a reason to go there; be there
• add new sound, alternative sound ... soothing sound of water, wind
• add colour ... through nature ... through expression of all cultures
• add scent ... through nature ... add nature !
• develop a niche ... something unique ... an alternative
• celebrate the mix ... people ... cultures ... history make apparent
• make legible
• make the unseen seen ... reveal !
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

workshop 2

review of the artist / designer brief

Lubi introduced the student group to the brief developed from the first workshop and previous input from student work that was produced during LC2008. She distributed copies of the brief to all participants and ran through each section to gain feedback.

Generally, the student particpants were agreed that the brief covered aspects of their own input and provided for a direction that was consistent with their own objectives for the the future of the site.

The brief may be downloaded from this page as a pdf.

first Artist site visit -  15 April Feedback from Lauren

We met on site and talked about our individual observations and feelings in the space. Initially to just familiarize ourselves with each other and the experience of being in Kemp Place Park as it exists now.
Genevieve popped in with the new draft brief and we talked about the history and possible future options for the site e.g. flagging the tunnel as graffiti site and moving the memorial either onsite or off site entirely.
 
Adrian, Simone, Sebastian and myself spent a while longer just talking about potentials and constraints. We all agree the park has a lot of possibility for intervention and a reinterpretation.
We decided it would be good to get some distance from the Kemp Place site and went for coffee to brainstorm and consolidate onsite discussions. Many ideas at each end of the spectrum were considered;
a chandelier type piece in the underpass, artistic amenities, lighting elements, amphitheatre etc. We agreed we wanted to bring people to the site and keep them there via interaction with the art and with each other.
 
These ideas were then brought back onsite where we started to formulate a loose direction for the artists to go away and work individually. We thought it was important there was a consensus about the way forward.
 
The main themes of this direction are;

 
-          Artistic screening along the main road/southern/western edge of the site ( a real or perceived noise and traffic barrier)
-          Option of both interactive musical type elements and passive wind objects (which ties into many of the students’ ideas)
-          Opportunity for a lighting element in place of the existing flood lighting.
-          The notion the screening or vertical elements could act as a marker or seen by people not only in the park but passing by.
-          Elements having multi function, depending on where you observe it or enter the park from.
-          Elements being multifaceted in simple and effective ways
-          Some amenity (whether that is in cheap modular seating elements connected to vertical elements or the intervention as an opportunity for seating)  – to be investigated by others if not integral to the art works.
-          Some basic soft landscaping elements to encourage relaxation and stabilize banks etc. – to be investigated by others if not integral to the art works
-          A space to be seen and to watch
 
These ideas are just a way forward and not a solution. The artists are all going to work individually to develop what they see as important for the site within the framework discussed and agreed. We are meeting and bringing together these and new ideas on Wednesday the 22nd of April.

workshop 3

review of the artist concepts

Adrian, Sebastian and Simone presented their concept work in our final formal workshop on 13 May.

Three very different proposals were presented and all were met with enthusiasm by our student participants. Have a look at the artist blogs for more detail on each of the proposals that they came up with and the May 13 Presentation blog.

The artists were conscious of the overall project budget in considering their individual endeavours which will make it possible to install all three works... we hope! Even though they are very different in their intent and appearance, we will be looking at trying to anchor them all successfully in the site. This will be done by their placement and relative location to each other and hopefully, with some landscaping installed around them, so that they have their own 'space'.

Briefly, Adrian will be fabricating and installing a number of "Red Sticks" as a series of red, vertical elements reminiscent of the Purple Team's wall element. Adrian sees these elements as a visual foil to the road to the south of the park - a permeable wall - and as a series viewed differently from which ever direction it is approached and as the viewer moves along the long path that connects Marshall Street with the entrance to the tunnel. Their colour and their processional configuration responds to existing cultural expression in this part of the Valley - that of Chinatown.

From a design point of view, Adrian's work will help articulate a large, circular activity space which will probably be grassed - at least for the time being - and direct views within and beyond the park.

Simon'e work, "Swamp Forms" draws from the natural history of the site when it was part of "Rosetta's Swamp". This comes from her research of the site, but also the input of much of the students' work from last year and at our first workshop, that is, to introduce the expression of nature and organic forms. Simone's concrete fondue elements draw from primordial flora and fauna in their form and texture and will be located to the north-east of the site, near the corner of McLachlan and Marshall Streets. They will act as an entrance to this side of the park and present motorists with "what the...?" glimpses when they drive past. Underground services will be a huge issue in this area of the park, so the sculptural elements will have to be sited very carefully.

Sebastian's text work will be located on the wall of the underpass to the east of the site. It won't be within the site, itself, but will be a bold marker of one of its edges. The content of work - "the more I think about it, the bigger it gets" - is quite obtuse and could mean any number of things to different people. It is whimsical and thoughtful at the same time and I'm sure, something we are all still trying to make sense of - but that's art ... and that's Sebastian! This piece will be installed in red to match Adrian's work and provide a bold marker of the park and entrance to the Valley from the Story Bridge.

All works offer different experiences for the viewer and have different ways of relating to the site. Importantly, though, each will relate the viewer to the site in some way, revealing it on a number of levels and not just a physical one. Site unseen, no more perhaps!

Artists will now develop their concepts further and look at how they will be fabricated and installed. verge will be closely following this process to see how landscape design can support the work in the site and develop a simple design that will give each of the works context and fit within the overall scheme of the park - as it is now and how it could be. Again, we will be going back to the student work to draw from their ideas.

Attachment	Size
Artist Brief.pdf	5.24 MB
Matrix.pdf	4 MB