Another workplace for you today. This one full of mostly “top secret” not to be seen or spoken of technology. What a clever bunch of people at Planet Innovation! And as always, an impressive workplace by Hot Black and Amicus.
Metropolis
As promised, I’m sharing another body of work from recent years (well, a selection of images from it). This one, Metropolis, followed on from "Ships in the Night" and was also made in 2018. It continues my ongoing exploration on the theme of isolation, a theme that has taken on a whole new meaning since I made this work. In any case, I’m not done with it!
This body of work was exhibited in 2018 at Yarra Sculpture Gallery as part of the Fresh 18 Group show. These and all of my fine art works are available in limited edition prints - get in touch via the Contact page if you’d like to know more.
Metropolis
I am drawn to cities and never tire of capturing their beauty, overt and hidden. There is a certainty in the symmetries, patterns, colours and forms that is familiar and comfortable.
The city holds great appeal for me yet I feel an imbalance.
As our cities grow and sprawl, so too does our sense of isolation and loneliness. The rural villages of connected communities have given way to vast metropolises of concrete and steel, overflowing with profoundly disconnected, lonely individuals. Disconnected from each other and from nature.
Collins Street Workplace by Hotblack and Plan Group
People are finally returning to the CBD for work and companies like Sportsbet are making it worth their while. Designed by Hot Black and built by Plan Group, their new Melbourne office is a vibrant and colourful place to spend time.
John Wardle's Ballarat GovHub
I spent a glorious day in Ballarat last month shooting John Wardle’s Ballarat Gov Hub, a new home for up to 1000 employees on the town’s ‘Civic Hall’ site. The low rise, zinc clad building has a gabled roof and mass timber structure that reference a rural shed, and can be seen from many vantage points around the town. It sits along side the library, the 1950s Civic Hall and a park, which together will become an important precinct for community, government and commercial activities in the Ballarat CBD.
Developer: Development Victoria
Architect: John Wardle Architects
Builder: Kane Constructions and Nicholson Construction joint venture
Engineer: Aecom
Landscape Architect: Aspect Studios
Here are some images from the shoot.
Nostalgia for a high school job
Back in high school, in Sydney, I worked for several years at the Hoyts Cinemas in Chatswood. I loved that job. It provided me with more or less free access to the movies of the time. Not a bad perk for a teenager that loved going to the movies. You can imagine then, the kick I got out of shooting the new home of Val Morgan, the advertising arm of Hoyts, last year. Another fabulous workplace by the clever folks at Amicus and Hot Black.
False Warmth, 2019
A few people have asked me lately where they can see the fine art series that I’ve made over the past few years. I thought I’d share some here. This series is False Warmth, which I made in 2019 over many cold winters nights in inner city Melbourne. Before Covid was a thing…
Personality facades. The masks people wear; the inauthentic versions of themselves they present to the world to hide anxieties, depressions and traumas.
Often these masks are developed in early years to protect from feelings of inadequacy, weakness or insecurity and are carried through into adulthood.
At night, when returning home, they take off their masks. Sometimes this brings relief and sometimes it makes space for the anguish and despair to rise. The safety of home can bring comfort from a cold world but it can also bring a deeper isolation, a false warmth.
No Left Turn - False Warmth, 2019
Lace - False Warmth, 2019
Through The Cracks - False Warmth, 2019
Post Box Corner - False Warmth, 2019
The Adjacent - False Warmth, 2019
Towing Service - False Warmth, 2019
Freeway home - False Warmth, 2019
Riots - False Warmth, 2019
Skeletons - False Warmth, 2019
Shamrock Store- False Warmth, 2019
Cutouts - False Warmth, 2019
Theresaville - False Warmth, 2019
Leaving - False Warmth, 2019
A workplace in the tree tops by Futurespace and Amicus
Set amongst the treetops and behind the stunning facade of Gray Puksand’s 2020 Botanicca building, this workplace was calm and tranquil, and without doubt a great environment to work in. Designed by Futurespace and built by Amicus, this is the first in a series of workplaces I will share over the coming weeks.
A lockdown announcement, some handmade furniture and a mural
This shoot will always be memorable thanks to the announcement, halfway through, of the final (hopefully) Melbourne lockdown in July, 2021. The shoot, for furniture maker Damian Harpantidis of Harp Industries, was to capture his craft in situ, in his client’s Essendon home. The mural, which sits along side his beautifully crafted pieces was also impressive and memorable!
