Images from the five finalists for situate - an international sculpture competition offering $1million for an artwork to transform Perth’s Forrest Place - have been released.

Culture and the Arts Minister John Day said the five teams invited to develop their concept designs had made their final submissions, which are now available to the public in the lead up to the announcement of the winning entry on Friday, September 11, 2009.

“Each of the finalists demonstrates a different artistic response to a very specific, busy and evolving Forrest Place site,” Mr Day said.

“Public art can transform the space in which it exists, creating a place that people choose to meet at and want to be in.

“When launching the situate project, I said that I would like to see a work that connects with the people and with the landscape in Forrest Place.  All five of the chosen finalists have done exactly that.”

Details of the work of the finalists are:

• James Angus, artist; Doug Knox, consulting engineer; Peter Mclean, lighting designer of Sydney, Australia

The proposed artwork is a singular sculpture that occupies the centre of the forecourt.  It will be approximately 11m long and three metres wide, with a maximum height of six and half metres. It will be a genuinely three-dimensional biomorphic form, hollow-cast in aluminium and brightly painted.  Biomorphic form is a non-representational form or pattern that resembles a living organism in shape or appearance.

• Fran Dibble, artist; Paul Dibble, artist; John Hardwick-Smith, architect of Palmerston North, New Zealand

A cluster of six bronze birds are perched at street level at varying heights.  People will be able to move through these forms. Another pair of bronze birds in flight rise to the south and are read against the facade of the Post Office building.

• Richard Giblett, artist; Matthew Herbert, architect; Jan Vastesaeger, architect of Melbourne, Australia

The proposed artwork titled ‘Escalator Loop’ is a contemporary artwork. It is a full- scale replica of an escalator standing 13.5m tall and three metres wide. The artwork loops around, much like a roller coaster loop-de-loop.  The materials to construct the work will be those used in an actual escalator; primarily steel and glass.  It will be illuminated at night by a range of colourful sequences.

• Jean-Bernard Métais, artist of Courdemanche, France

The proposed artwork titled ‘The Sun at its Zenith’ is a 35m high stainless steel leaning arrow. During the day, the cast shadow will track to the sun’s movement, sweeping across the ground in a cyclical motion.  At night, lighting in surrounding paving will suggest the constellation of the night sky.  Projectors installed inside the artwork will throw text and words on to the ground.

• Dimmity Walker, architect; Michael Patroni, architect; David Walker, artist of Perth, Australia

The proposed artwork signifies the northern gateway to Forrest Place. The artwork is a steel and glass form and uses the image of an unfolded map to describe the explorations of John Forrest.  Surface imagery is derived from aerial photographs of the Western Australian landscape which is perforated into steel.  Backlit glass panels, which wrap around the form, contain references to his journeys.

“The quality work by the independent jury will, I am sure, have an exciting result.  It’s wonderful to see the diversity of responses by each of the finalists and I am very happy with how the competition has progressed,” the Minister said. 

“It has tested some new ground and will enrich the debates and opportunities for contemporary public art practice in WA.”

A five-person jury panel has the responsibility of judging the short-listed entries to choose a winner.  Jury chair Margaret Moore said the panel were impressed by the number and variety of the entries and the quality of presentation.

“Given that the process was initially anonymous, it allowed the jury to focus primarily on the concepts presented,” Ms Moore said.

“We were especially pleased with the diversity of approaches developed by the five finalists.”

More information on situate, images of the five finalists, the competition process and the jurists can be found http://situate.dca.wa.gov.au or phone 9224 7300.