TIDE 2001

Location: Rialto Square, Manly (in between Wentworth Street and The Corso)
Commissioned by Manly City Council

Six polished stainless steel column structures of varying heights are dispersed in a diagonal line from near Wentworth Street to the beginning of Rialto Lane where it meets the Square. The overall work could be thought of as a musical instrument. Each structure houses acoustic sound activated during the day. Fibre optic lighting is activated at night. Each column's lighting is a movement between four monochromatic tones. The effect is of liquid, subtly changing colour. From one end of the square to the other, the colour spectrum is played out. Additional coloured light washes down from inside onto a white granite surround. The structures appear to float on light.

The height of the columns coincides with high tide levels on six dates, from 4000BC to May 28, 2000. Once each day, at the time of the lowest tide for that date, the repeated chiming of a single note can be heard in each column. At noon the sounds combine to play an interpretation of a transcription by a European circa 1825 of an Aboriginal song from the Sydney region.

The polished stainless steel acts as a mirror, reflecting the images of passers by and inverting the surrounding space. Approached from the Corso end, the linished stainless steel has a slight holograghic effect and the cylinders appear to flatten out.

DJQ Steel made the steel work, Digilin the fibre optics and the sound team included musician Blair Greenberg and sound engineer David Bartolo.