The manufacturing of an impressive item of public art or of commercial sculpture is a challenging and exciting task. Presented with an idea or a concept an artist has to decide on a method of operation, suitable materials and equipment, and, in large projects, a team of skilled assistants.
With public art, financed by local authorities or groups, or individuals the artist may have to consult and negotiate with local authorities. The final placement of a sculpture may be in a public park, by a roadside, beside a river, by a town building, by a town entrance, or indeed in the middle of a salt lake.
Commercial sculpture is financed privately and its location is on or close to an enterprise, which may be a theme park or a small or large business.
When the work is completed the final result can amaze, intrigue, or give rise to vigorous debate or to contemplation but it will almost inevitably bind a town or community together. Impressive sculptures become unique icons in cities or towns and, more rarely, in remote areas such as Mt Rushmore.
From Stone and Clay to Bronze, Aluminium and Fibreglass.
From before people could read or write they have expressed themselves by producing art, originally paintings and pottery but as they became wealthier and more sophisticated they developed impressive public sculptures and buildings to commemorate, perpetuate ideas and to inspire. Principally using stone and metals, using, sometimes, vast numbers of workmen and huge resources, they erected enduring memorials to their gods and to their heroes of the military, of sport, leadership, and saints.
Public art, in its enormous variety, has made art available to every person at all times.
A Modern Wonder – Fibreglass Sculpture
Fibreglass is one of the most convenient, affordable and versatile materials that can be used for the construction of sculptures, from a child sized Mickey Mouse to the grandest and most impressive of public sculptures.
Fibreglass is formed by using high quality resin applied to sheets of a woven fabric that is partly composed of glass fibres. The fabric can conform to any shape possible. The finished fibreglass form is durable, strong, stiff, heat resistant and very light. It allows infinite possibilities of size and form and texture. Colouring can be included in the fibreglass resin or sculptures can be painted when they are complete.
Due to the strength of the material sculptures can be made hollow so any large or grandiose sculpture is relatively extremely light, making the handling of very large structures quite easy and economical.
Public Art and the Community
In Australia in the last sixty years or so there has been a proliferation of huge sculptures in many towns and cities, both large and small. Early in the twentieth century Australia was a developing country but in the following fifty years the country experienced involvement in two world wars and an economic depression. It was in the fifties the economy rebounded and the country was stimulated by a degree of increased prosperity, an influx of migrants with different skills and ideas, many technical developments and by a renewed hope in a peaceful future. It was a time to go forward, to develop and create, using new ideas and techniques
One of the earliest modern public sculptures was in Tocumwal in New South Wales where, in 1967, the Women’s Auxiliary and the local Chamber of Commerce raised money by running dances, holding stalls, raffles, etcetera. They commissioned the construction of the Giant Murray Cod to put the town on the map! A little earlier, the Big Banana, a commercial sculpture had been erected at Coffs Harbour.
Since then a great variety of very large flora and fauna have appeared in many towns across eastern Australia, frequently funded by businesses but also by local councils or different community groups and adorning buildings, parks and roadsides.
A great many of these would not have been possible without the fibreglassing skills of artists, enabling projects to be completed in a reasonable time within the financial abilities of the interested parties.
A large and distinctive sculpture makes a town unique and special to its residents and to the wider world. The community is united with a greater sense of belonging.
The large public art sculpture that complements rather than conflicts with its environment will significantly change the character and a feeling of an area and even of the whole town, making it more inviting to the population and to visitors. Whether it is an octopus on a roof, a giant cow or a gigantic cockroach it will draw much attention. Tourists and residents will exclaim with awe or horror or enchantment.
There is a strong commercial side to all Public Art. What traveller could resist leaving the highway to drop in to see a giant crocodile? Once in the town they will buy food, local products and possibly accommodation. More activity means a more exciting town, more jobs and more population.
Public Art and the Individual.
Public art works are commissioned by individuals, whether they have gathered together in a committee or privately fund. Individual artists design and enable the fabrication of the works. Individuals decide where they will be located. Ultimately, the works are for the pleasure and appreciation of the individuals who will view them in their chosen settings.
Humans will always react to the big, the bold, the unusual or the beautiful that appear in their own small worlds. They have always been intrigued and fascinated by objects that are on a totally unfamiliar scale or of a strange shape, and by realistic sculptures of living things. Their instincts are to become involved by visually assessing details, by touching and by sharing their feelings, emotions unfamiliar in normally insecure and insulated lives; feelings that may be of warmth, joy, sadness, awe, security or oneness with the people around.
The park is a welcoming place with a familiar and permanent form reminding each person that this is a special place.
Ideas to Icons
In the early 60s some women’s organizations, principally the CWA, campaigned to have a memorial to the pioneering women of W.A. An architect designed a plan for the centre of Kings Park: a lake with timed fountains representing forest and change, around a tall statue of the Pioneer Woman with her child, sculpted by a woman artist. Surrounded by sloping lawns it is the site for numerous picnics and summer concerts.
The Pioneer Woman has the most visitors of any attraction in WA. It is a place of peace, strength and tranquillity. It is a balm to the soul.
The Big Banana, an unlikely sculpture, was purely commercial but could be the best-known icon in Australia. It’s a surprise; it is huge, it’s colourful. It is familiar but it’s alien. It’s fun but it says to us that the possibilities of our imagination are endless.
