FOOTSCRAY ON THE EDGE: PUBLIC ART

Interview with Baby Guerrilla on her influences on her "Dreams" work by Chantal Wynter.

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Baby Guerrilla

'Dreams' is the latest in a series of works I have done involving a man and woman tumbling and falling, suspended mid-flight. The piece can be interpreted in many different ways including my own mixed fears towards domesticity and relationships. It also reflects a desire for freedom on a much broader scale politically, socially, spiritually. I want the piece to appear as though it confounds gravity. My intention is to stir the viewers own interpretation and have them believe that anything is possible.

KENDAL HENRY ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM

Council is in the privileged position of hosting an ‘artist in residence’ by New York based artist and curator, Kendal Henry. Kendal specializes in the field of public art and has initiated projects in the US, Europe, Russia, Asia, Central Asia, and the Caribbean. He has held the post of Manager of Arts Programs at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts for Transit for eleven years. He has overseen the commissioning, fabrication and installation of MTA’s permanent art projects, served as a member of the MTA’s in-house design team and produced exhibitions at Grand Central Terminal.

As part of his artist-in-residence, Kendal put a call out to local artists inviting them to collaborate on site-specific and socially engaging public artworks. This collaboration resulted in over a dozen provocative works which are peppered throughout central Footscray.

F5: FOOTSCRAY IN TRANSITION

F5: Footscray in Transition is a five-year arts project capturing the physical and cultural changes of ten sites within the City. These sites are highlighted through artistic responses prompting public reflection of the change.

The imminent changes of Foorscray cannot be overestimated and the project aims to play a vital part in recording and responding to these as they occur.

From its beginning and a photography project, the plan is to include creative writing from year 2 onwards to its culmination in year 5, when a book of images and writing is intended to be published.

The sites are:
Irving Street
McNabb Avenue
Binks Ford, Hopkins Street
Footscray Station
Nicholson Street Bridge
Donut Van at Footscray Station
Little Saigon
Nicholson Street Mall
Footscray Hotel, Hopkins Street
A Skyline – photographer’s Choice

Year 2 of F5: Footscray in Transition will comprise of large scale photographs attached to shop windows on the north side of Paisley Street including creative writing sourced from VU staff and students.

F5: Footscray in Transition is a high profile arts project for Footscray over an extended period of time. It has the capacity to be the definitive historic cultural record and response to changes in a city at the most crucial time in its recent history.

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

This is a program run by the science and engineering section of Victoria University. In a desire to bring science and art together, a group of students and postgraduates create artworks that are technically complex. These sculptures and installations are made for VU Open Day and then are recycled for use the following year.

The works are very engaging and use light and movement in a technically advanced manner and often use simple re-cycled materials such as paper. Hence they would ne more suitably exhibited indoors and this exhibition will be in the Bluestone Arts Venue, next to the Town Hall.

WESTERN LIGHTS

Western Lights transform the wall of the Footscray Town Hall. These large scale stills created by local visual artist Nicholas Azidis are visible to everyone who walks or drives by the intersection of Hyde and Napier Streets.

Nicholas Azidis is an installation artist who creates bold and beautiful pieces that transform a viewer’s perception of their surroundings. The familiar becomes magical as he turns buildings into art. Nicholas’ work has recently been seen at the Gertrude Street Projection Festival, onto the Australian Ballet Centre and the Kew Court House.

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