by Caroline Drean
Sydney’s “Sculptures by the
Sea” exhibition was on again for 2004 this October and
November, in the beautiful Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk on Sydney’s
Eastern beaches. (Click
HERE to see the
2003 exhibition)
This was my second year of
visiting the exhibition, and once again I was impressed by the high
quality of the work, and the way that the artists had incorporated the
natural features (such as rock structures, the curve of the horizon, or
the motion of the waves) to complement and enhance their sculptures.
Just the like when I went last
year, it was a scorching November day. This year I went with my friend
Bree who had come up all the way from Melbourne and who always enjoys
exhibitions. We had survived a rather gruelling bus ride to get to the
exhibition, as Bondi Beach is not serviced by Sydney’s suburban rail
network. Parking (if you even have car to park) is difficult to find and
expensive if you do find it, especially when an event is taking place on
the beach such as the popular Sculptures by the Sea. So after a sweaty
hour of very close contact with a busload of breathless change-fumblers we
finally clambered off the bus onto Bondi Beach. It’s a striking view: a
sweeping seascape of deep aquamarine water, white crested waves and belt
of yellow sand framed by whorls and twists of rocks and overlooked by
unaffordable housing.
The
sculpture that immediately catches your eye in 2004 is the “BONDI BEACH”
sign.
Echoing the famous “HOLLYWOOD”
sign, the BONDI BEACH sign was designed by artist Bev Brandon and her
family: husband Les and
their children Joshua, 29, Isaac, 28, and Joel, 25, who all collaborated
to create and build the enormous sign.
To me,
the sign is a playful comment on the ‘glamorous’ Bondi lifestyle – where
wannabe celebrities work on their tans and gossip. There has been some
talk in Sydney of keeping the popular sign, with radio station 2UE,
Channel 10 and Sydney Daily Telegraph all polling audiences to see if it
should stay.
Another piece that I found to be
really eye-catching was a number of red suitcases strewn
amongst the
rocks.
The red
colour stands out sharply against the natural colours of blues, greens and
browns in the landscape. In this case, the artist has used contrast to the
natural environment to draw your eye to the work. The way the suitcases
are scattered randomly on the rocks made it look to me like they had been
thrown there with great force from a huge wave. This evokes the power of
the sea, and made me think of a shipwreck: the weakness of humans against
the unrelenting strength of the ocean, and in particular the vulnerability
of travellers. What became of the owners of those suitcases, setting out
at sea with all their possessions?
Another
artist who deployed the use of contrast to attract the viewer’s eye was
Chinese artist Sui Jinguo whose bright red
painted fibreglass and steel caged dinosaur stood out on the cliff edge
overlooking Bondi Beach.
Red is of
course a lucky colour for the Chinese, and the earth in China is rich with
dinosaur bones and something of a Mecca for palaeontologists. This
sculpture was a very popular one with the children, who ran in and out of
the dinosaur’s cage.
Bree and I
were trying to decide what the theme for this year’s exhibition was. I was
too cheap to buy the catalogue in order to find out, but it made for an
entertaining afternoon trying to work out how such a diversity of
sculptures could be thematically linked. We did notice that many, although
not all of the pieces related to animals (including fish, birds and
insects). I really liked this simple sculpture of two dogs.
There are
always many dogs playing in and around the beach, barking, chasing balls,
chasing each other, chasing their own tails, and of course swimming and
shaking their wet fur all over sunbaking Bondites. I thought this
sculpture really captured the feeling of dogs having fun on the beach.
Another fish sculpture was this one… a
beautiful piece that shows a fish-like creature made from stainless
steel and situated on the rocks.
The shiny steel is evocative of the slippery skin of
a fish and it appears to capture the motion of a flapping fish, one
that has been caught and brought out of the water.
The sculpture also incorporates a long, thin, curved
section of steel which has the motion of a line being cast out, but
is also reminiscent of the curve of a wave crashing to shore.
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I
also liked this sculpture of fish. It appears to be four or
five fish facing upward – swimming upward perhaps?
Or
hooked and being hauled upward by a fishing line? What you will
notice when you look a little closer is that each fish resembles a
milk bottle… .
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| Here’s a photo of Bree
and a random small girl
flanking a sculpture of a
man on a bench. |
...and
finally a piece that I just loved for its simplicity. |
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There are some more pictures of
the sculptures in this year’s exhibition taken by Tracey “Shutterbug” that
can be viewed
here.
Karina Razali’s photos can be viewed
here.
Good news for Perthlings, next
year in March Cottesloe Beach will hold its inaugural Sculpture by the Sea
exhibition. You can find out more
here.
