Aurora

Installed: Melbourne Docklands, cnr of Harbour Esplanade and Bourke Street, Melbourne

Resembling an inverted cargo net the sweeping curves and net-like construction of Aurora makes a symbolic lInk to the history of Docklands as Victoria's most important port and a place of transit for goods and people:

"Some of my earliest childhood memories are of our annual family holidays when we would take the ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania. I remember vividly my father's anxiety as we watched our FJ Holden hoisted in a cargo net and placed in the hold of the ferry. At the age of five or six this was my first experience with large-scale mechanisation - and the strength and precision of the enormous cranes lifting our car left an indelible impression on me. Aurora makes reference to engineering structures and the grace and power of mechanical actions." Geoffrey Bartlett

The artist's brief was to make a major sculptural work that would focus on the concept of lightness. Named after Aurora the Roman goddess of the dawn, the stainless steel construction responds to changes in the light. From certain angles the work appears open and net-like while from other view points it regains its solidity. At nighttime the work will be lit internally, creating an impression of a glowing orb floating above the pavement.

The artist also took into consideration the sculpture's position on one of the major pedestrian thoroughfares in Docklands. "I was very conscious of how people would interact with my work. Pedestrians will be able to walk through its legs under the main structure. I wanted to give them a reason to look upwards - to focus their attention away from the everyday and to reflect upon the work and the sky beyond."