9 April 2009

Glassworks to get a tiara

| johnboy
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Our Chiefly Leader has decreed a stately pleasure dome a 22 metre glass tower will adorn the disused smokestack at the Kingston glassworks.

    The winning design, Touching Lightly, is a 22m high, internally lit tower consisting of a minimalist steel frame surrounded by toughened glass. The tower artwork will be located above the existing smokestack gallery to evoke the former smokestack. The glass will be coated with a surface treatment so it shimmers in daylight and at night will be illuminated by blue LED lights creating a play of light in the night sky

    “Warren Langley is one of Australia’s most successful glass artists and has completed major international and national commissions. The work will be an exciting addition to the Kingston Foreshore’s cultural precinct.

    “In keeping with the ecologically and economically sustainable vision for the work, long-life low-energy Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) will be the source of illumination for the sculpture. LEDs require a very small amount of power equivalent to that used by a kitchen electric kettle,” Mr Stanhope said.

(Hands up who’s thrown a breaker by putting the kettle on? Having said that who really gives a stuff about the power usage of floodlighting beautiful things?)

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through caverns measureless to stan[hope]
down to a sunless sea (or is that lake?)

i dunno, i rekkun thjs is just a bit of carping over what will possibly an iconic part of a future canberra, depending on how the k/foreshores develop in time…

Punter said :

I’ve just found the price tag. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/09/2540325.htm $450 thou is a lot of coin for a glass hat. It might be worth considering giving it all away to become an ‘artist’, except I could never be convincing.

Warren Langley is a creature of VERY expensive habits … and it’s not surprising that a pile of something glittery and “City of Oz” ish is the design …

Sounds good, though this will become an instant target for vandals. Let’s hope that the toughened glass can withstand the punishment.

According to Google, Warren Langley (the glass artist) has the following achievements.
1950 Born
1972 Bachelor of Science (Hons), University of Sydney
1972-78 Glass studies: Australia, UK, USA
1988 Silver Prize, International Exhibition of Glass Art, Kanazawa, Japan
1994 Australia Council Fellowship
2002 Australia Council New Work Grant
2003 and 2005 Finalist in Lempriere Australian National Sculpture Award

This piece entitled “Beneath” on the corner of Queen & Wharf Sts in Brisneyland.
A different view of “Beneath”.
This piece, “Collective Memory”, recently purchased by the University of Canberra but better displayed here.
He was also part of the design & build team for the Australian Service Nurses War Memorial, according to OzArts.

Here are a few of his other works:
“Mapping the Molonglo”
“Breathe”
“Poise”

He seems reasonably popular, seeing as he has 41 recent public commisions by various municipal and corporate organisations, according to his CV.
Some of them I like, some of them I don’t like.
But as its Yet Another Stanhope Initiative, all I can say is “I hope it comes in close to budget and doesn’t end up being shit.”

I’ve just found the price tag. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/09/2540325.htm $450 thou is a lot of coin for a glass hat. It might be worth considering giving it all away to become an ‘artist’, except I could never be convincing.

I do enjoy a reference to one of the Romantic poets, and this makes me wonder whether, rather than referring exclusively to the historic Yuan Dynasty, Coleridge was also prophesying about the Stanhope Dynasty… it seems the second stanza also makes a veiled reference to this project when it speaks of “walls and towers girdled round”…

This very well could be a thing of beauty.

I do hope so.

This seems a more worthwhile venture than the “windmills” of Yamba Drive Phillip and Tuggeranong pond, those things are horrible. However, my confidence in the glassworks would be confirmed by knowing the cost.

Art. Loved by all who don’t hate it.

Gets my vote.

Wasting

our

money.

I love this…

This landmark project is being jointly funded by the ACT Government, ActewAGL and the Land Development Agency.

In other words 100% funded by ACT govt and its puppets.

I think it sounds cool!!

I’m a hand up for not minding lighting beautiful things. I thought it looked like an interesting design, and I like the idea. I confess I also like the public artwork on Yamba Drive at Phillip. I guess there will be the predictable frothing about spending priorities of the government, but I support spending on a range of things, including public art. (Not so keen on the Grassby statue, but I wouldn’t call it a thing of beauty!)

All largely irrelevant to me though, because I’m from over the border. Though on a kind of only sort of (arty) related note, I went to a show at the newish Queanbeyan arts complex, the Q, recently. Good venue, comfortable seats, and usual way over-priced drinks.

Will it have a glass Al Grassby, or perhaps Lionel Murphy, or some other Labour hero, on the top?

Cute spin Jon. An average kettle is 2400 watts (2.4kW), which equates to 40 conventional 60w light globes or 160 CFL 15w ecomentalist globes. A kettle would boil for about 2-3 mins max. This piece, if lit only at night, would be using that 2.4kW for 10 hours a day on average.

But as it’s in the name of Art, who are we to argue with the Great Leader?

I can just see it now……” Police, Fire or Ambulance? Yes, I’d like to report a UFO above the glassworks. It has little blue lights flashing!”

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