SWELL SCULPTURE FESTIVE 2020 - GOLD COAST...
One of the things on my bucket list was to visit SWELL on the Gold Coast. Unfortunately with work we have never managed to make it as it always fell the week or so before the September School Holidays..
This year, it fell at a time we were both off, and also coincided with when we needed to be in Bris to help with Dan and Chloe...
As Sarah also had assignment deadlines we decided to take Max with us as a special day for him...
We didn't get away quite as early as I would have liked but managed to get away from Sarah's somewhere around 9am.
We set the address on Google Maps and headed off. Everything was going fine until I had to take a phone call from Sarah's mother-in-law. We were having a lovey chat when I kept hearing a ping on my phone... At first I kind of ignored it but it kept going and it took us a few minutes to work out what it all meant..
It meant we had missed out turn off and by the time we got off the motorway we had entered NSW territory hadn't we....
Of course in the process of Google maps correcting our route it meant that we then had to go through the border check point and of course we didn't have a border pass to enter QLD...
Steve was feeling pretty stressed but I really didn't feel to worried. Maybe I should have been... Fortunately for us, we still had our destination logged into Google maps so when the Army personel spoke to us we were able to explain what had happened and show him my phone. He let us back in but not also letting us know that we needed to be careful in future as it could mean quarantine if they wanted to be hard core with us...
A little unnerving at the time, but a great tale to tell down the track. It was after 10am by the time we arrived at Currimbin and found a car park...
There were quite a few people around..
We headed down onto the beach to check out all the installations.
The first one was entitled "Lobsterarri"
An object left behind, an empty discarded vessel, a shell, thrown away or forgotten, housing something different. Our waste has become a huge problem around the globe. Humans should be trying just as giant deep sea creatures or other animals adapt to a change in their environments to utilise these objects in different ways. The famous car has now become an exoskelton and home for a creature. This giant mutated sea creature is perhaps a metaphor for survival in a quickly changing world...
There were some 50 instillation along this part of the coast...
The above sculpture known as "Guardians of the Gold Coast". Our city houses many guardians... the protectors of our people... the unsung heroes of the Gold Coast. From the lifeguards at the beach to the firefighters protecting our homes.... the social workers helping those most in need and the police guarding the safety of our community. The sculpture honours the medical staff at the Gold Coast Health and the sacrifices they make, expressing my appreciation and respect to the nurses, doctors and hospital staff that save our lives every day.... The Guardians of the Gold Coast..
Next we walked along the path out to the rocks and came across the "Swamp Hens".. This monstrosity appears as a moody overbearing mass, held up on a tangle of lightweight supports. From a distance a small group of birds becomes more recognisable pointing out the effect of scale and distance on the perception of form...
As we headed out onto the beach we came across "The Foreigner". This weird artwork was made up of found items, most of it junk... This artwork represented a stinging cell in vivid yellow.... Who invited this toxic fellow? This artwork has appparated in the artist's imagination and in reality in various iterations for well over 20 years. The artwork supports his recent "FoAreign Body" series as well as his ling standing "Yellow Period"...
We started on Currumbin beach up near the rocks and were going to work our way down the beach towards the surf life saving building...
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| Max with his Poppy.... |
Whilst Steve and Max explored the rocks, I started making my way up the beach.. The next instillation I came across was entitled "Can You Hear It's Tender Frame, Screaming from Beneath the Waves?"
This instillation was set out to resemble the wreck of a ship, this site-inspired work invites the viewer to consider real and symbolic journeys of the self and of others. This vessel has been affected by fire, an agent of transformation signifying a future never reached or a past never escaped.
The next instillation stood out along the beach because of the magnitude of it and the vivid bright orange colour... There was a $30,000 price tag on it as well...
"Contortion" as this one was named stood out all along the beach... It was hard to miss...
"Contortion - the definition.... something that is complex and difficult to follow as a result of being deliberately distorted/twisted. Truth and transparency are critical during a global pandemic. Information and collaoration are key in combating an international crisis. Misinformation and the distortion of truth only magnifies and exasperates the problem. Lives would have been saved and suffering reduced if certain world leaders acted sooner. Tragically the procrastination and pontification has resulted in senseless heartache, misery and death.
The next installation was also well done.... Simple but it reflected all around it which made for some good photos in that you were mirrored even taking the photo...
This instillation was entitled "YOU/ME/SKY/SEE" and it focused on the timeless nature of our engagement with our environment, with ourselves and with each other... The cube with its shape cut out is a kind of thought catcher. The inside being a reminder of the value of spending time in contemplation and the value of human connection in contrast the exterior of the sculpture reflects the therefore engages with the surrounding environment. Mirroring our relationships to nature. Regardless of human intervention the sun rises and sets. The waves toss in the sea... Everything is connected...
The next instillation along the beach was quite large and beckoned you to actually walk out along it...Whilst we didn't do this, little Max was up and on it before we had a chance to get him off it...
This one was entitled "Lifebridge"and it celebrated te journey of Life. By inviting visitors to look across the bridge - we imagine a metaphor of shedding negative thoughts and using the connection to channel positive energy "Lifebride"forces us to look forward. The Bridge has one direction, broken into three sections. The contrast of the three sections embodies our metaphor. The first section represents the past, second represents the present. The third symbolizes the future. The structural integrity of the bridge relies on the three sections connecting. One could not exist without the other...
Right next to Anomaly, we found this billowing silk flapping in the breeze and this was part of the "Sorrow" instillation...
This instillation looked quite majestic with it's magnificent sails, majestic and celebrated. Triumphantly endeavouring. How they inspire us. The replicas, the re-enactment. Until we remember, these beautiful sails mask an ugly truth so many of these grand sailing ships collected, transported, delivered and spread umimaginable sorrows to so many souls to and from and on so many shores. How do we remember them?
Max was fascinated by the next one and loved the big silver ball that formed part of the "Fluid Air" installation..
The artist's only comment about "Fluid Air"was the he would like Fluid Air to inhabit the site for its short duration as a 'living' sculpture. To be remembered for it's movement as much as it's form. This piece of art also had a price tag of $5,500...
The next one we came across was probably one of my favourites.. It was a large piece entitled "Ragnar V Moby"and was made from recycled timber. It was also quite expensive at $25,000. Never ceases to amaze me that art work like this sits out on the beach exposed to all the elements.
The ancient Indian parable of the Elephant and Three Bind Men still holds true today. Having never experienced an elephant before, each feels a separate part of the animal and each has a different truth. Rather than investigate fully or discuss, they simply accuse the other of lying ad hold firmer to their belief. As you walk around "Ragnar V Moby", picture how easy it would be to reach a belief, if you were only given part of the picture, especially if the truth is outside your usual realm of thought.
Max was starting to feel a little bit hungry and we had to try and get him to hold off until we say the last few sculptures on the beach.
The next one we came across was probably our least most impressive and it was entitled "Turning In". I am not sure how the attached price tag of $4,500 would be justified...
"Turning In"represents the third of our lives we spend asleep, the bed most likely becomes the piece of furniture we use the most. The bed is a space within the home that has a profound effect on the space inside us, a potent site of dreaming where desires and fears are heightened.
Turning In, alters the beds objective function by suspending a mattress to convey the intimate tension we experience in this psychological space and to play on the beds qualities of protection, reflection, confidentiality and comfort.
The next instillation was like a giant piece of origami and was entitled "Totem/The Fragile 2020"and it also attracted a price tag of $5,000 and was made of composite board...
There's resilience and strength in the art of Origami, a practice the artist remembers fondly from his childhood. As creases and folds strengthen tightly woven wooden fibres. There's always an undercurrent of the fragile as a result of the medium. This sculpture is a response to moving and static imagery that infiltrated his social media feeds of the 2019/2020 bushfire season. A year on as we move to the 2020/2021 season his hope is that this sculpture will be a stark reminder of our roll in climate change and consequences of not acting...
The "Monument to the Road Builders" was the next interesting instillation we came across. This one had a price tag of $10,000 and had the colours of road works and heavy machinery.
Three Umbrella laying upside down on the beach was the next instillation we came across. This one was entitled the "Umbrella Effect" and it was another one with a $5000 price tag...
"Umbrella Effect" is meant to be a take on a physical interpretation of the ecological term umbrella effect. This is in reference to the current imbalance of our environment, climate and culture. The instillation consists of three individual umbrellas positioned upside down. This imbalance is further communicated with the angle of each umbrella...
With only a couple more instillations left to explore on the beach, Max was really keen to have his morning tea, so we kind of rushed the next one entitled "Adam & Eve". The price tag for this one was $35,000...
There wasn't much of a description on this one... Basically it represented Adam and Eve being historically the first male and female, so the artist has chosen to represent them in abstract form, the concept of the two sexes within a modern day context...
The last beach instillation was titled "Vortex". We spent a little time in this one as you could walk through it like a bit of a maze and it also had messages linking each pod which we wandered around reading... This instillation was made from recycled polyethylene and poly pipe, and each pod could be bought separately from somewhere between $400 to $600 each.
We finally found a shady patch of grass to park our butts on and Max was able to finally have his morning tea...
Whilst Max was having his morning tea, Steve photographed a few of the sculptures that were in the vicinity of where we were sitting...
Max really loved these next two art pieces as they were made out of his favourite things. Sticks....
This piece was called "A Walk in the Forest". The artist has a price tag of $2,500 for this piece of work.
When restrictions around COVID-19 were implemented, the artist decided he would walk every day in the local forest. During these walks I made little structures out of fallen branches and sticks. One day I started a pyramid and kept adding to it each day. Since then I have made many pyramids in different places, some obscure and some in plain view. Sometimes people add to them, sometimes they knock them down and they get rebuilt. This pyramid contains a smaller one, turned upside down on it's head...
This was another of the stick sculptures that Max really liked. He thought it was a wombat. It was actually a cat and was entitled "Natural Predator" Mostly this sculpture was made from Eucalyptus twigs and branches. It also had a price tag of $1000.
The artists commentary of this piece was "Natural Predator is a commentary on the devastating effects that cats have on our native wildlife and a plea for pet owners to keep their cats indoors. The fragile nature of the materials draws your attention to the many dangers that cats themselves face when left to roam around unsupervised....
I think this next piece was my all time favourite... It was titled "Men of the North" and it was made of galvanised aviary wire. It's price tag was $8,500 but there was so much work in it that I can sort of understand the price tag..
There was so much detail and expression in the face of this man... You can see I love it by the amount of photos we took of it...
The description of this work reads....
Fioki is a character from the series "Vikings". He is fiercely loyal to his tribe and gods and is prepared to descend to any level of violence to defend and honour them. Fioki is conflicted by the senseless destruction caused by his doctrine. As his dogma begins to collapse, he is forced to confront himself and the consequences of his actions. At times he sees himself as a fool and with his war paint he reflects the archetype of the dark clown still familiar and recognisable today.
"Five Fathoms Deep" was the next piece we came across...
This piece represented the deep-sea diver character named Flotsam Bob and is inspired by the pearl divers of Broome. A century ago pearl shell was a valued commodity and Australia leads the world in its supply.
His light-hearted interpretation is designed to capture the imaginations of young and old. The head of the diver suggests a pearl and the body is carved from a composite of reclaimed timbers and flotsam. The sculpture features an illuminated sphere to represent the different cultures that sought their fortunes in the pearling industry...
There were quite a few gazebo's set up along the foreshore with people selling SWELL programs and they also had people giving informion about the festival itself.
There were still heaps more for us to check our as we made our way along the foreshore back towards our car.... The following one was entitled "Local Heroes", and had a $22,000 price tag..
Local Heroes is a three panel tribute sculpture, acknowledging Australian resilience and spirit. The first panel represents heroes of the air. The second panel heroes of the Fire Emergency Services 000 and the third panel heroes of the civilian population in assisting the wildlife and acknowledging the wildlife that perished.
A giant sculpture of a Mullet was the next piece we came across. This one was titled "Julara - The Mullet" and was made from timber with the fins being made from stained glass. The price attached to this piece was $3,300.
The description for this piece read:
Take some time and look out across the expanse of the sea... - there is a silver fish out there that leaps from the water. If it's close, you might hear it's 'whack' and see it's splash as it re-enters the water. Look for the sea eagle on the wing circling above. Feel the cool westerly wind on your back, winter is here and it is time for the Mullet Run. This piece was created to highlight the story of the fish in our local estuarine and marine ecosystems.
The next sculpture we came across was a set of stacked chairs. Steve wasn't as fussed on this one as we see it often in the airport back in our home town. I am sure it is not the same one, although ours is missing at the moment due to the fact that the airport is under going some up grades. Still it didn't appeal to Steve and certainly not with a price tag of $8000 considering that the chairs were not that spectacular and there was not a lot of work in the piece...
The artist's brief for this one read,
Stacked Chairs is an assembly of found chairs, portraying a column like structure. Although each chair has it's own individual memory and function, they have become dependent on one another. The failure of one chair could result in the failure of the whole system. He would like to think of this similar to our current lives, where we are all at some stage or another, in the midst of balancing various responsibilities, whether intentional or not.
"The Labyrinth" was next, although this couldn't be described as a piece of sculpture but more as an idea. There was a large labyrinth marked out on the ground and the artist had a stack of painted stones that you could go pick up and place on the marked lines. Apparently, the rocks were painted with glow in the dark paint so that at night they were all lit up.
The artist's idea behind this was that...
The Labyrinth has been used by many ancient cultures across the world as a tool for grounding, healing, goal setting and meditation. The process of creating a Labyrinth, filling it with positive affirmations and then walking, chanting or dancing with those intentions can be a therapeutic experience for Labyrinth walkers. Using a simple unicursal labyrinth at SWELL. Community will create connection with the Earth, our universal shared source of creativity, and a sense of profound and centered gratitude during this experiential installation.
The "Femme Fatale" was a very interesting piece made from recycled bike parts and steel and it really took our fancy... There were two parts to this installation, a Femme Fatale which was valued at $1,500 and the Man-tis which was valued at $1,200. I saw more value and work in this one than the stacked chairs..
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| The Man - tis |
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| Femme - Fatale |
Femme Fatale is a metaphor of what bikes are to us. Something attractive and dangerous that ultimately will cause distress to those involved. We like bikes. We like to deconstruct and reconstruct. In the anatomy of the bike, we see the exoskeleton of the siren, and our attraction to bikes will be our nemesis.
An enormous ox made of pine, nails and screws what the next sculpture we stumbled across. It was massive and a real work of art. The price tag for this piece was $6000. Again so much more work in this installation than in the stacked chairs...
"Dilli Gent" which was the name given to this ox. If hard working, diligent and relentless were sexy traits, the Ox would be a porn star. Neither a prancer or dancer, this powerful beast of burden will stand the test of time of usefulness. Next year (the year of the Ox) and in these uncertain times, they may well be revered as they deserve to be.
Caged Birds was an interesting installation. Quite colourful with a message about racism. This installation contained three caged birds, a parrot, peacock and Black cockatoo..
Caged birds are symbolic of the racism and oppression that the word is currently experiencing. we have created these beautiful birds that have been constrained within cages for everyone to look at. Their freedom has been taken and this creates suffering. Set them free...
We came across a bikini clad woman scupture laying on one of the benches. Pretty sure this one is a permanent fixture on the foreshore here but of course we took a photo of it also, along with a couple of photos looking down onto the beach where we got a good view of the sculptures on the beach...
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| I'm pretty sure this one lives here permanently... She seems pretty at home here.. |
There wasn't too many more to see... we were able to keep Max motivated in looking at the many sculptures by giving him my phone to take photos as we walked along. This kept him very busy as he took photos of absolutely everything, each pine cone he found, every dog that walked past along with all the sculptures as well. I probably have a good couple of hundred photos that I will need to delete, but it kept him happy and as he said made it a 'SPECIAL" day for him.
The next sculpture we came across was titled "Moribund But Lit AF". I am not even sure how you would describe this one, but the price tag was $15,000.
The artist's brief on it was the following;.....
Anything that can happen will happen. These low probability events aren't inconceivable, they are inevitable periodt. To misquote Russel Brand, there's about a hundred blokes with as much dosh as the rest of us, that's a bus load of people that run the world. Don't you wanna stop that bus and ask em? "Just where the **** are you folks going?" There is, in orther words, ample evidence that securing state power from the domestic population and securing concentrated private power are the driving forces in policy formation.' Noam Chomsky.
"Images 2" was a much smaller installation but with a much higher price tag. The asking price of this piece was $35,000 and was made of bronze.
Images 2 aims to portray the processes and materiality of sculpture. He has always admired the mechanics of nature, specifically the metamorphosis of a butterfly. Using the human bust as reference. This sculpture represents a symbol of change.
The "Critically Endangered Installation was a series of little pots with lids scattered together and the price tag for this one was $11,000. Again I struggle to see the value in it, but I guess with along with music, art is in the eyes of the beholder, and what one person likes doesn't necessarily appeal to the next person...
The description for this piece of art was:...
In the wake of the destruction caused by extreme bushfire events are a group of twenty-two critically endangered plant species. Their habitats scorched potentially beyond repair. These crematory urns force us to confront the inevitable reality that many of these species face. Each vessel is glazed using local wood ash. Whilst in this instance the ash has been immortalized through the firing process, the reality is that many critically endangered species will simply disappear back into the earth once they've been burned.
I think the second last installation we saw was perhaps the most expensive with a price tag of $43,000. This was made of solid granite and was titled "Unity".
The artist expresses this theme by exploring the forms of a spiral and a portal/doorway. The spiral form is a symbol of change, progression and development. Spirals are often found in natural and it is through the spiral form that he wishes to reflect the aspect of nature. He would however present the spiral form in a very engineered and architecturally constructed form, reflecting the integration and evolution of society within the environment.
Max was keen to eat again by now and wanted us to go somewhere special for lunch. Somewhere special to Max would mean McDonalds, so after being distracted by a plane flying fairly low overhead, we stopped to look at one more installation before heading off for some lunch.
The final installation was titled "Ohhh Snap", It was a huge steel butterfly entraped in a mouse trap.
By now we had spent a good three hours at Currumbin walking the beach and foreshore. So proud of our little boy who was so well behaved and barely any whinging at all. It was definitely time to go feed him. We did see this cute little coffee van with coffee and sandwiches...
Max had his heart set on McDonalds and since it was his special day as he would say, we decided to give him a treat and take him there. The closest Maccas was at Tugun so we headed there. We offered to let him play in the playground but he wasn't interested as there were no playmates to play in there with him...
He wanted a Happy Meal, mainly so that he could get the toy, and he really wanted juice and coke... Juice he recieved and he ended up have a sip or two of my sugar free coke so he was a happy chappy.
As we were eating lunch we were looking through the SWELL program we had purchases and noticed that there were a few more SWELL exhibits around the Gold Coast. One of the suburbs that had more was at the Mudgeeraba Village Green. As this was on our way home we thought we would stop of there and check those ones out also. There were ony 5 or 6 there so we knew that it wouldn't take too much time. We wanted to be back at Sarah's around 4pm as she was meeting a group of mums at the park for the children to have a play. They do this every week and she was pretty sure that Max would not want to miss out.
We probably spent an hour at McDonalds before heading off to visit Mudgeeraba Village Greem.
There were only a few installations here, the first being one titled "Transparent Connection" and was made from perspects..
In a world dominatd by social media we need to be more honest and authentic in our dealings with others. The connections and relationships we have are the single most important aspect of our lives and we must strive for greater transperancy with one another. This artwork was created to encourage us al to reconnect on a deeper and nore authentic level.
The next piece titled "Wallaby" was created by the same artist that created the "Men of the North" that we had found on the foreshore at Currumbin. Ivan Lovatt created this sculpture out of galvanised aviary wire again and it was equally as impressive as the one we had seen at Currumbin.
Perhaps the most celebrated indigenous marsupial the wallaby is an Australian icon, revered worldwide. As an endangeredspecies we are privileged to witness these extraordinary creatures grazing in our suburbs, but how can we cohabit safely? Never offering huan food, reducing unnecessary fencing and keeping our dogs restrained would be a great place to start...
"Occurrence" is the next piece along our walk... Not sure I can see the $6,200 value in this one though.
The wood used in this piece of sculpture is pver 200 years old. It was reclaimed from the original Shorncliffe Pier. What does one do wiht all that history in one lump of material?
Max's favourite piece was the next one called "Lazy Days". He gravitated back to this piece time and time again... I am sure it was the colours and shape that drew him. He wanted to sit on it and ride it and we had to keep telling him that he couldn't climb on it. I can see why it drew him though as the colours were quite vibrant.
The price tag for "Lazy Days" was $32,000 for both pieces or $16,000 each. The materials used were stainless steel and 2Pac.
This piece of art work expresses the vibrancy of contemporary Australian Beach culture with the laid back attitude of beachgoers. the goemetric forms and dynamic surface patterning convey the simple shared pleasures of human experience.
The last installation at Mudgeeraba Village Green was a large copper pipe and electrical wire Moonbird. It stood about three and a half metres tall. and had a price tag of $25,000. The title of this sculpture is "Moonbird B95"
B95 is the embassador for worldwide preservation of igratory shorebirds, this tiny 1.4kg Red Knot has flown 515,000kilometres in his lifetime. The distance is equal to flying to the oon and half way back hence the nickname "Moonbird". He has been sighted and recorded along his migration route for more than 18 years. Globablly REd Knots (Calidris Canubus Rufa) are under threat and endangered due to the loss of habitat, declining food stocks and global warming...
This was quite a nice little area of the Gold Coast. It is a pity that we don't have more time to explore it. It was close to 3pm by now so on our way back to the car we took a few more photos of the green... the green you would seen when SWELL was not present...
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