We found this fabulous discussion in the Frankston Standard Leader.
Which of these seven tollway artworks sparks the most discussion in your car?
It is said that the compiler of the Oxford Dictionary once remarked: “The word ‘art’ gave me more trouble than any other word in the English language.”
Who can judge what is good art and what isn’t?
It is just like beauty.
Very much in the eye of the beholder.
Residents of the Mornington Peninsula and the hundreds of thousands of visitors who flock to our coastlines and hinterland annually, are spoiled for choice when it comes to visual art.
Which sculpture sparks the most discussion in your car?
- Ellipsoidal Freeway Structure (green balls)
- Public Art Strategy (blackbird)
- Hotel (fake hotel)
- Desiring Machine (fallen multi-pronged spire)
- Panorama Station (Lego-like structure)
- Rex Australis (ram’s head)
- Reflective Lullaby (silver gnome)
- Our region boasts artist’s studios and galleries of all sizes.
The Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in Dunns Rd, Mornington is the major cultural facility of the local shire, renowned for its exhibition program of Australian and international art.
It also showcases its own outstanding collection, which focuses on the cultural heritage of the Mornington Peninsula and contemporary Australian work on paper.
Then there’s Australia’s leading sculpture park, McClelland Gallery, set in 16ha of bushland and landscaped gardens in Langwarrin.
Australia’s top glass blowing family has their studio in Red Hill and there are numerous galleries all over the Peninsula with interesting and affordable contemporary art.
There are many local artists who open their studios as part of a trail.
Painters, ceramic artists, jewellers, silk workers, potters, wood workers, print makers, indigenous artists, photographers and more.
There are also artworks on display that many of us see every day, only these are a little more controversial.
For residents and visitors making the quickest journey to our region by road from Melbourne, these artworks are large, striking and the cause of much discussion.
Paying a toll gives you admittance to EastLink’s art gallery.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Just prior to the Dandenong bypass there’s the giant blackbird contemplating a yellow object, part worm — part modernist sculpture.
A little further on, towards Bangholme, I wonder how many bored children sitting in a car, have wrestled with the concept of a fake hotel conceived as a piece of public art.
Hotel, as it is called, appears as a piece of roadside architecture, only there are no other buildings for kilometres, and it is effectively a giant folly. I love the fact that you can’t stay there, but it still has different rooms lit up at night. A haunted hotel?
At Carrum Downs there is the fallen prickly multi-pronged spire that looks like a decaying piece of agricultural machinery from another age.
Then entering Peninsula Link, the artwork is free of charge. There’s the colourful Rocket-and-blocks Lego-like structure with the title of Panorama Station on the bridge of the Seaford interchange.
At Skye Rd we are greeted by the giant rusted sheep’s skull known as Rex Australis which is even more impressive when floodlit at night, and finally the nine metre high, polished stainless steel garden gnome Reflective Lullaby which is best viewed from Cranbourne Rd.
All these giant artworks are designed to visually stimulate passers-by and promote conversation.
If the success of roadside public art is judged on discussion alone, my family’s vote goes to Hotel.
@Peter_Mitchell7
Source: Peter Mitchell, Frankston Standard Leader
August 15, 2016 12:00am