3000 x 4500 px | 25,4 x 38,1 cm | 10 x 15 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
20 mars 2006
Lieu:
Docklands Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Informations supplémentaires:
Reed Vessel by artist Virginia King Stainless-steel and aluminium sculpture, 2004 Navigation Dr, Docklands Virginia King’s elevated vessel seems to have emerged from the water to become suspended in time and place, between land and sea. Virginia King’s Reed Vessel is an 18-metre-long vessel form sitting high above a clear, reflective pool in Docklands Park. The maritime nature of the work acknowledges the history of the site and embraces the themes of migration, passage and survival. The area on which it is located was once extensive tidal wetlands, which provided abundant food and spiritual connections to the area for its traditional owners. The basket-like vessel also symbolises a container in which memories are held – memories of the undeveloped site and its traditional uses, but also of the ocean journeys that have brought early settlers and later generations of migrants to these shores.Reed Vessel’s airy, metaphorical form is achieved through the joining of more than 300 stainless-steel pieces into a canoe form. It sits upon a cradle created by two louvred water screens, down which water gently flows and through which a fine mist is emitted. Exploring themes of migration, journeys and the rekindled spirit of the land, the cradle is sandblasted with poetic texts which are etched with the words of Australian writers and poets, quotations related to the river and the sea, to memory and the passing of time. It also references marine archaeology and the once abundant foods that Aboriginal people harvested from this former tidal wetland. A pedestrian bridge forms part of the work, taking passers-by across the pool and through the base of the cradle. The vessel symbolises a container that holds memories, life, hope and survival. As you are walking towards the Vessel, you can see animals on the plank including the frog, the lizard and the eel in shapes cut into the metal structure
