No images? Click here Artists sought to register for Artist PoolThe Metro Tunnel Project will provide a huge boost to the Victorian creative sector in the coming months with more than $150,000 of new artistic commissions being announced. The largest commission offered will be to design and paint two walls of the City Square acoustic shed, facing Swanston St and Flinders Lane, in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. These creative opportunities will assist Victorian artists and creative practitioners impacted by the coronavirus pandemic by providing additional opportunities for work. Arts industry workers including artists, writers, musicians and performers are invited to register for an artist pool. Artists will then be selected from the pool to submit for the commissions. The works will be displayed on the Metro Tunnel’s construction hoardings and other structures in late 2020, bringing some much-needed colour to Melbourne streets as the city returns to life. The new commissions are part of the Creative Program, which offers opportunities for artists and creative practitioners to help keep Melbourne vibrant during construction of the Metro Tunnel. The program has already brought pop-up events, performances and world-class artworks to construction sites across the Project from Kensington to South Yarra. To find out more about this opportunity and how to register, visit the Metro Tunnel website. Creative wayfinding installed on Flinders StCommuters at Flinders Street Station will notice that wayfinding signs in the Flinders Quarter have been given a stunning revamp. These beautiful retro-style signs have been created to help people navigate their way through the area and to support businesses operating on Flinders Street. The Metro Tunnel Creative Program engaged Melbourne designers Weekdays to provide new signage that suited the iconic Degraves Street setting. Weekdays then worked with the local businesses to come up with the retro-style designs to showcase their brands and reflect the character of the precinct. Weekdays normally paint signs by hand, but due to safety regulations around the Town Hall construction site a different approach was required. Weekdays Design Director Todd Vanneste said of the approach: “All lettering and design was drawn and painted by hand at a smaller scale then processed digitally to be used at actual size”. The Flinders Quarter creative signage has been nominated for the 2020 Melbourne Design Awards. Spencer Harrison’s ‘Excavation’ at ArdenA new artwork by Melbourne based artist Spencer Harrison has been installed at the Arden Station construction site on Laurens Street, North Melbourne. The artwork is inspired by the act of digging and tunnelling, abstractly representing detritus and archaeological artefacts uncovered during the Metro Tunnel’s construction. Harrison’s abstract work, which references the underground movement of the Project’s Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), is particularly timely as two of the TBMs recently launched from the Arden site digging their way to the future Parkville Station. Harrison is a visual artist who uses the language of abstraction to investigate the relationship between humans and the world around them, exploring ideas from science, philosophy, play, mysticism and the natural world. Physical distancing artwork in Scott AlleyThe Metro Tunnel Creative Program has installed a new artwork in Scott Alley by creative duo The Huxleys to promote physical distancing. The giant sequinned koalas are joined at the heart but staying a safe 1.5 metres apart. The Huxleys are a colourful cataclysm of camp theatrics. A visual array of sparkle, surrealism and silliness. Working across performance art, costume, moving and still imagery they saturate their work with a glamorous freedom which aims to bring some escapism and magic to everyday life. They have produced work for installations, fashion shows, performances, exhibitions and festivals across the world including Tokyo, London, Berlin, New York, Hong Kong and around Australia. |