In one respect, placing over 100 contemporary sculptures around a coastal path in suburban Sydney does make them stand out — but it’s relative.
Some works,distinguished by their scale, colour, subject matter or position, couldn’t help but announce their presence.
Mu Boyan, Horizon. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Viktor Freso, Niemand. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Georgina Humphries, Groundswell. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
‘Damien Hirst Looking for Sharks.’ Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Mu Boyan, Horizon. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Wei Wang, Walking. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Wei Wang, Walking. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Rebecca Rose, Sea Scene. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Smaller, more subtle works sometimes seemed to blend in to the environment, and required time and closer inspection.
Sue Corbett, After the Swim. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. At only 160cm high, and tucked away against the rocks at Tamarama Beach, these bronzes were difficult to locate.Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Danni Bryant, Friendly Terror. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Barbara Licha, CBD. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Barbara Licha, CBD. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Detail, Barbara Licha, CBD. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Detail: Barbara Licha, CBD. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Other sculptures found themselves jostling for space. Over 40 of the 107 sculptures exhibited were sited in Marks Park, which is about midway around the Sculpture by the Sea trail. It is home to the pop-up gallery of smaller indoor sculptures and the event’s hospitality area, so despite some of the works being quite large, many simply didn’t stand out in the crowded space.
Gillie and Marc Schattner, Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
One of the four bronze sculptures comprising Gillie and Marc Schattner, Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
One of the four bronze sculptures comprising Gillie and Marc Schattner, Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
One of the four bronze sculptures comprising Gillie and Marc Schattner, Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are, by Sydney artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, was the only work that really stood out for me in the Marks Park area. The artists’ statement says about it:
“The work calls on the world to welcome endangered species out from hiding, into a place of safety and love.”
And finally, there were works that weren’t always recognised as sculptures.
Several sites containing discarded items — including the bottles and cans below — formed a work concerned with the waste produced by our society.
One element from Monique Bedwell’s, But It’s Not My Rubbish. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Hossein Valamanesh’s Conversations, involved weaving Persian carpets into seven existing public benches sited along the coastal path. This chap was not the only visitor who seemed confused by the rather beautiful, if understated, work.
One of the seven works in Hossein Valamanesh’s, Conversations. Sculpture by the Sea, 2018. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Posted to Lens-Artists Photo Challenge | Blending In –Or Standing Out?
Fascinating. Thank you for sharing, Su!
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Thanks Deb 🙏
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A varied and fascinating collection of public art, thanks.
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Thank you Sally 😀
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Great photos and amazing finds!
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🙏😀
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Great pieces of art! Are they a permanent fixture at the beach? Or do they eventually return to a museum? I am glad you had someone standing near the sculptures to give a sense of the incredible size they have, Best wishes! Peter
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It’s an annual exhibition that runs for three weeks. The artists get some financial help to make the sculptures, then they are for sale at the exhibition. It has been running for 22 years, and is quite famous in Australia.
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Lovely sculptures Su, I love the one with the animals coming out of the sewer.
Leslie
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😀 it was really impressive “in person”
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I bet it was…. 🙂
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Very interesting in so many ways, Su. I like the weaving one a lot and the animals as well. The big Buddha? Not so much. 🙂
janet
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The Buddha had the best site in the exhibition and became the sort of “poster-boy” for the show. But like you, I wasn’t that taken with it — compared to other work that could have benefited from such a prime site.
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Good selection for this theme. Now I really want to get to it next year. We have a similar one month sculpture trail on our beach called “swell” in September about 70 exhibits this year, but I was in Broken Hill so missed that too.
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I have heard of Swell. I’ll have to visit it sometime. 😀
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I have enjoyed seeing these, but must confess not that many grab me this year. I DO like the ‘After the Swim’ – small is beautiful.
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It’s probably clear from the small number that I photographed, that I felt much the same way. One woman I met on the trail said (in a brilliant Ocker accent) “one or two wows, but way too many WOBs this year.” WOB apparently is “walk on by.”
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Haha… I like that!
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Truly remarkable — startling — sculptures. Totally love naked Trump.
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Hehe. The work is called Niemand — nobody. Quite apt really 😀
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I love your selection. The children wrapped in towels after a swim remind me of my childhood. I never lasted long in the North Sea before coming out to shiver under a towel! The endangered animals also stand out.
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Thanks Anabel. I liked the little swimmers too. It was a very small sculpture tucked away at the end of the trail, but well worth finding. The animals were amazing, but again, I didn’t think their placement did the work justice. Everyone’s a critic, right 😀
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Right!
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These are incredible. I can’t imagine what they are like ‘in real life”!
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It’s definitely an exhibition that needs multiple visits. There is too much to take in on one trip; especially when it’s busy.
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I like the endangered species…
Marts…
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These are great Su. Often times I dislike the placement of sculptures in a natural place but in this case I think it was done really well
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Thanks Tina. I think when artists know they are making work that will be exhibited outdoors — and in a natural environment — the work often speaks to concerns about that environment. Bondi always attracts work about pollution, water, bio-diversity, etc. Some of it works — other pieces, not so much 🙂
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Big and small sculptures alike have their own appeal and I like that it sounds like one can discover one surprise after another whilst walking through that huge open air exhibition. 😊
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🙂 It is a bit of a wonderland. I have been thinking a lot about how difficult it is to curate a huge exhibition like this so that it does justice to the work. Nightmare!!
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That Persian rug idea is fun and I’d be confused seeing it – also it surely will not last with the sea elements –
And I like your top one – the come come, out one –
And all
Of these cretsuve sculptures were completely enjoyable tonight. It also made up for the art show I went to last week. My son and his gf and I stopped by this small one (while doing something else so it was just quick) and usually they have such great exhibits but this one – eh – not really that enjoyable – of course that is okay – has to do with our moods – theme of the show – and all that –
And so seeing these sculptures was like “wow”
And how fun to explore them in person
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I suspect the rugs would have been taken away with the other sculptures when the show ended. It’s strange how sometimes an exhibition will really excite you, and other times you just end up kind of wondering why the artists bothered?
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The rugs also might really last if they weee well made – I forgot about quality – here in the states we have so much china junk for sale and some it is stuff that falls apart – my spouse will not shop at the “dollar tree” – for a few reasons but partly for the junk factor – buying lstuff tonout in the landfill later this year- do you have these kind of stores in NZ?
Anyhow – I am never one to not enjoy an art show – can always glean some things and pause at one point to get touched in a way that only an art show can do!
But the art show I was at felt too polictial
And then just did not care for the photos shared or the paintings! But there was one takeaway – it was this big cut out of a person and you could put your answer on with a sticker (fin intercayuve); the question asked was should corporations have legal rights that are the same as a person (something like that)
We briefly read the three examples and chatted.
Anyhow – enough of that!
This sculpture display is fantastic and I look forward to seeing more posts with some of the other (107?) pieces….
And what you shared here was (again) so cool. Coming out of manhood covers?? Great idea
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I didn’t photograph a lot of the work because a) the crowds made it hard to get a decent shot, and b) a lot of the work was very ho hum and I wasn’t that interested.
We have had an explosion of those cheap junk stores here too and the (short) road from shelf to landfill is one of the many reasons I don’t shop there either. I am trying very hard to be a conscious consumer, and I must say it is working. We generate so little household rubbish we only put out one 60 litre sack for collection every two weeks — compared to the neighbourhood norm of a (usually overflowing) 120 litre bin each week. I really don’t understand how people have so much rubbish.
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Oh Su, that is awesome regarding the 60 litre sack….
and I do not understand it either.
Well I sorta do. For example, all the processed crap food just so happens to be bad for the body, often costs more, and comes with extra packaging – (los-lose-lose)
and so when we started eating cleaner – i was shocked at how much less trash we had. But we were never one to fill our weekly bin….
and some of the biggest advocates I know say that of the R’s (reduce, reuse, and recycle) argue that reducing is the potent one to start with
–
and I just got a few of the pictures together (from the recent art show) to show you what it was like (and this has been chatting about art… and recycling)
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You’re absolutely right. Clean eating is essential. We plan meals fairly carefully and cook real food from scratch so there isn’t much waste. And our food scraps are composted anyway.
Reducing is the key I think. We really all need to stop and ask ourselves “do I need this?”
Looking forward to seeing the art show photos 😀
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my sister lives in canada and they actually collect food waste – i wish we did it in the states
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Our local council is talking about it. Meantime, they are trying to create networking so people can give their food waste to others with composting bins or worm farms. 😀
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oh what a good idea! makes sense.
and in a way it is sad that we have so much technology and advancements in the culture, but not even mindfulness of the little things that make a huge difference for the world’s health.
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Sometimes I feel like culturally, we have completely lost our way. Makes it more important than ever that those of us who do practice mindful living share the experience and encourage, especially the young, to follow suit. 😀
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Yes – I agree – raising awareness is so key and so often by modeling and not necessarily preaching – it can lead to good things
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Pingback: Time For Art #3 (Political-Legal: Corporation as a Person?) – priorhouse blog
Like you, I liked the interactive piece. I recently went to an exhibition celebrating 125 years of women’s suffrage in NZ. It had several interactive installations, but the one that really struck me asked visitors to place a coloured token on a panel representing the issue they thought was the country’s most pressing. The tokens were different colours according to the gender that visitors identified with. What the exhibit did was show, in a very simple, visual way, how gender is related to the issues that matter to us. Men were most likely to saw cutting taxes was the most important issue, while women were overwhelmingly represented on the “equal pay” board, and on issues like housing and the environment. Those who identified as neither male nor female gender tended to be more aligned with the female tokens. I found it really fascinating and revealing.
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