2014
coreflute plastic, acrylic, silicon adhesive, preexisting programmable light tubes
11 parts at 120 X 50 X 50cm
Accepting the curatorial premise of ‘the past in the present’ suggested by the project brief I chosen to take my cue from the more mundane history of Burnett Lane, rather than focus on its ‘grand’ history - a forgotten service lane, offering access to loading bays and rear entrances of businesses.
On arriving in Brisbane in 2000 one of my first tasks was to seek out suppliers to provide me with materials for making art. Within a few weeks I found myself searching for a nondescript doorway on Burnett Lane, that door led me into a ‘nowhere’ space with an elevator which took me up to Australian Jewellery Supplies and a treasure trove of tools and materials.
Back then Burnett Lane was lined with delivery vehicles and garbage bins. Burnett Lane was a world of products and packaging. For this reason I chose to employ a packaging material in the manufacturing of the iluminated works for Burnett Lane.
The light tubes were ‘packaged’ using hundreds of layers of cut coreflute plastic. A simple hexagonal component cut from 5mm white coreflute plastic layered 240 times up the length of the lights. Despite the apparent simplicity of this arrangement of repeating modules an almost limitless number of subtle variations was possible. For the purposes of the proposal to BCC I illustrated a few possibilities, I waited until I could manipulate the material directly before I committed to any one permutation, allowing process and experience to influence the final forms.
The title of the work (from the Hunters & Collectors song) refers to the visual variance seen within the objects as the viewers location changes in relation to each object. Also, a comment on the potential transformation of forgotten urban spaces into something more useful or aesthetic.
Commissioner - Brisbane City Council
Fabrication - Artist
