Tectonic
King William Road Public Artworks
The City of Unley’s latest public artworks, 'Tectonic', are on King William Road, created by the team of artists comprising Quentin Gore, Gregg Mitchell and Amy Joy Watson. Arising out of the Design King William Road project, the idea of major public artworks on King William Road came about due to the feedback from the co-design and community engagement process, which started in 2018.
The local community identified their desire for art and design that could play a role in creating a unique identify for King William Road and encouraging people to spend more time in the popular precinct.
Responding to the written text: ‘Unbuilding Our Home’ from a book titled ‘The World Without Us’ by Alan Weisman, artists Gregg Mitchell, Quentin Gore and Amy Joy Watson explore what a world without us might look like through their individual, but linked, sculptural works.
The artists consider the built environment we live in and place it in the context of the natural world, a subject that will only become more relevant with time. Timeless and elemental materials, granite and steel, which feature in each work, remind us of our place in time and our fragile relationship with planet earth.
With elegance, whimsy and subtlety, the works speak of our inherent connection to nature, time and, by association, the site of King William Road.
'Tectonic' can be found at three locations along the road, on the paved footpath areas in front of 84, 114 and 144 King William Road.
Tectonic One
Quentin Gore
144 King William Road
Tectonic One by Quentin Gore consists of two bulb-like forms made from local black Granite. The larger dimpled adult has sprouted and is heading skywards whilst its younger mate sits quietly alongside observing the passer-bys.
The work was designed to be touched. It speaks of the resilience of the natural world in the face of adversity and our increasingly fragile relationship with planet earth.
Tectonic One - Quentin Gore
Black Granite, Stainless Steel
1@ 300cm x 100cm x 100cm
1@ 100cm x 70cm x 70cm
Tectonic Two
Gregg Mitchell
114 King William Road
Tectonic Two by Gregg Mitchell is a work focused on the balance between nature and the urban environment through time and decay. The elongated table and chair with split granite boulders at the base and precariously nestled above, appear to have been thrust up from the earth below as one in a whimsical way, creating a tension between nature and the built form.
The interpretation of a William Morris wallpaper design sandblasted into the face of the granite infers fossil, while the climbing vine in the garden bed will wrestle with the form to make it home.
Over time the paint will fade, rust spots and stains may appear but the vine will grow, birds may nest and moss may grow on the granite documenting the push and pull between nature and our contemporary ways.
Tectonic Two - Gregg Mitchell
Black Granite, Painted Steel
350cm x 110cm x 110cm
Tectonic Three
Amy Joy Watson
84 King William Road
Inspired by geology and ‘deep time’ Amy Joy Watson has referenced banded rock formations in developing Tectonic Three. The bands or layers of strata speak of time; a significant part of Amy’s practice whose works are often laboriously hand stitched, and are a nod to the thousands of years it has taken for our surrounding landscapes to evolve.
With its bright colours and geometric form it could even be a meteorite that has landed from another world or perhaps a trace of an ancient landscape breaking through the surface of King William Road.
Tectonic Three - Amy Joy Watson
Black Granite, Painted Aluminium.
170cm x 120cm x 100cm