the concept:
Aqua - a site-specific public artwork incorporating time-lapse imagery, glass, reflected light and colour, and
the movement of people. From a distance you see an abstract field of aqua, then, closer, an image forms an
aerial view of a swimming pool, the horizontal field anchored by the black lane markings, and, even closer, a
man floats in time and space across the surface of the water. The image provides an unexpected conceptual
interruption to the busy streetscape. An iconic Queensland image, at the same time abstract, painterly and
figurative. Appearing out of the blue like a mirage, it offers an oasis of cool in the heat of Brisbane.
The large tree near the wall on Albert Street becomes part of the work, a living screen that reveals and
conceals, depending on where you happen to be. As you get close the image dissolves into a grid of pixels. A
glass mural, one tile per pixel, covers the entire wall. The overall effect will be to glow and reflect
intense colour in the shade that falls on the wall, and to sparkle in the sun. An intense vibrancy creates an
effect that recalls the gestural and painterly qualities of Impressionism.
A transformative exchange takes place between the image, the adjacent walls, the surrounding streetscape, the
movement of vehicles, weather conditions, the position of the sun, people in overlooking buildings, people
passing through/using Albert Street. A sense of duration is embedded into the photographic moment of the
swimmer in the pool.
fabrication/construction
The image, reworked for this context and codified into pixels 20mmx20mm each, transforms one of the images
from the Aqua series of 2007. Each pixel of the image translates onto the wall as a single, monochromatic
glass tile. The tiles are 20mmx20mm, installed directly onto the wall.
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