Ayob bin Ismail in front of Water Kite Tirhatuan Park, Dandenong, Australia. Water Kite copyright 2003 Velislav Georgiev
A quick reminder...
Ayob bin Ismail has travelled from Singapore to Ballan, a regional town in Moorabool Shire in Victoria Australia, for a four-week residency and internship. His visit is being generously supported by Nanyang Polytechnic (School of Design), Wombat Regional Arts Network and by Velislav Georgiev and Tor Roxburgh's public art business Zabelski Han and their gallery studio complex Omnibus Art Gallery.
Sunday 7th June...
Today was huge. We left Velislav in the studio and took off to visit some public art and design commissions undertaken by our public art business Zabelski Han and to see the new Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne.
Our first stop was at Tirhatuan Park in Dandenong. The City of Greater Dandenong commissioned us to make two works in the Park. One is a playground design item called Frog and the other is a two-element sculpture in the lake entitled Water Kite.
Frog Tirhatuan Park, Dandenong, Australia. Copyright Velislav Georgiev 2004
Frog was constructed from a base formed from carved Hebel aerated concrete blocks. Reinforcement was laid over the base and then concreted. Finally the coloured rubberized surface was applied. The project involved working collaboratively with the landscape architects who were responsible for the overall design of the playground and with planning officers from the City of Greater Dandenong.
Water Kite was constructed from powder coated perforated stainless steel. The figures have a central stainless steel pole that sits on a pile, which was driven into the lake bed.
Water Kite, Tirhatuan Park, Dandenong, Australia. Water Kite copyright Velislav Georgiev
Next we visited the Brady Road shopping strip in Dandenong. This commission involved working closely with other design professionals. We not only designed and fabricated two separate pieces of public art, we also designed and fabricated seating and worked collaboratively with Council's urban planner to design a pavement treatment related to the overall theme of the artwork: suburban life.
Brady Road seat and pavement design, Dandenong, Australia. The suburban rooftop motif on the limestone bench seat is mirrored in the pavement design. Copyright Velislav Georgiev 2002
Ayob bin Ismail in front of Sculptural Tree, Brady Road, Dandenong, Australia. Sculptural Tree Copyright Velislav Georgiev 2002
After leaving Brady Road we drove to the new Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. Ayob and I wanted to visit the Garden to see the renowned red centre and to examine the way sculpture and other commissioned design elements contributed to the landscape.
The Australian Garden's red centre viewed from the Garden's entrance.
These colourful watering cans on posts caught our attention. They feature in The Water Saving Garden by MDG Landscape Architects. Australian Garden, Cranbourne, Australia.
A fantastic Escarpment Wall sculpture by Greg Clark. Australian Garden, Cranbourne, Australia
Ayob particularly liked the design detail that extended to the signs identifying various plants. Diversity Garden by Site Office. Australian Garden Cranbourne
From the Australian Garden we travelled to Frankston where we have two pieces that were commissioned by the Frankston City Council. One, Sandcastle and Kelp Seat, is a functional sculpture. The other, Roadside Marker, is a significant artwork marking the entrance to that city.
Roadside Marker Nepean Hwy Frankston Australia. Copyright Velislav Georgiev 2006
Ayob bin Ismail on Sandcastle and Kelp Seat Frankston Australia. Sandcastle and Kelp Seat copyright Velislav Georgiev 2006
Monday 8th June...
Ayob and Velislav were in the studio all day. Ayob concentrated on the model for the piece of windart he is donating to the Shire. I met with Patrick Bonello to begin discussions about the website that Moorabool Shire is funding him to build for the 1000 Weathervanes in Ballan project.
Tuesday 9th June...
Another big day. We were heading over to meet with officers at the Shire when we bumped into Peter Blizzard. Ayob was pleased to meet the man behind the new sculpture in Inglis street Ballan.
At the Shire's municipal office we met with Shire officers Sue Jones and Keith Linard to discuss the possible locations for Ayob's windart gift: The Red Dot. Ayob showed us his model and discussed the significance of the shapes and colours he has selected. The Red Dot uses geometric forms to convey the power of the arts and design landscape in Moorabool. The focus of the concept is the 1000 Weathervanes in Ballan initiative. There are 7 red plates with differing diameters. Each plate represents an element contributing to the arts and design landscape synergy in Ballan. The elements represented include the town's:
- community
- landscape
- historic values
- cultural values
- arts practices
- vibrancy and energy
- tourism.
We all felt that the new piece of windart would look good against the background of the municipal office. Keith was interested in how we could make a connection between the rural nature of the function of traditional weathervanes and Ayob's design, which is quite abstract and modern. Ayob suggested we place the work near the existing historic plough: the two items share bright yellow elements. We then decided to try and install the work on a rusted pole to strengthen the reference to the Shire's rural heart.
One of three proposed locations for Ayob bin Ismail's windart gift. Copyright Ayob bin Ismail 2009.
We then headed down to Melbourne to visit Northcote Pottery. During this visit Ayob toured the facilities and we hired a wheel. Next Ayob and Velislav met with David Wills from Design Project Group. The Group does all of our engineering computations. Velislav, Ayob and David discussed the engineering for three new projects. That meeting was followed by a visit to Smithweld, the business that rolls all our plates.
I stayed on at the office in Melbourne.
Wednesday 10th June...
Ayob and Velislav spent the day in the studio. Ayob worked on the storage seats and then began using the new pottery wheel to create some ceramics.
I was busy working on the timelines for our next job: an events and tourism poster column.
Thursday 11 June...
Ayob and Velislav continued their work in the studio.
Friday 12th June...
Today Ayob and Velislav installed the timber into the tops and sides of the storage seating. This work necessitated some detailed discussions about Australian safety standards in relation to entrapment. Later in the day Ayob worked in Photoshop to create some windart location images for the Shire.
I stayed in Melbourne and worked on an interview for my forthcoming publication Exhibiting Your Art.
L-R: Ayob bin Ismail and Tor Roxburgh at the Australian Garden Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne
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