... because we humans can only work
for a future we can imagine.
THE TOWER
by William
Kelly
The
Tower' is a major commission that symbolises migrant journeys, hopes,
experiences, and new found sense of self and place.
The Victoria Commissions, Arts Victoria, 1996.
The
Tower is a site specific visual art commission on the edge of
the Cheetham Wetlands near Point Cook in the City
of Wyndham. It is funded through the first round of The Victoria Commissions,
with matching financial support from Parks Victoria.
The Cheetham Wetlands is a significant habitat for waders and other birds,
many of which migrate annually from Alaska and Siberia. For this reason
it is protected by international treaty. At some times of the year, the
number and diversity of birds inhabiting these wetlands approaches that
of Kakadu in Australia's tropical north.
Artist William Kelly views the migration of these birds as a metaphor
for human migration. While acknowledging that our contemporary Australian
experience is often used as a model for other less tolerant cultures,
he emphasises through this work that we need to continue to aspire and
work towards reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples and towards increased
harmony with each other as migrants, or descendants of migrants from over
140 different ethnic backgrounds. In the current and ongoing debates about
these issues, 'The Tower' becomes an affirmative icon and beacon.
'The Tower' also speaks about reconciliation with our natural environment.
In designing this work, Kelly has specified the most ecologically benign
construction methods and materials available. The footings bolt into the
bedrock, for example, and have minimum impact on vegetation and soil profiles,
while the tower and ramp are constructed from selected Australian recycled
hardwood. A very elegant Savonius wind generator is incorporated into
the design to provide energy for night-time illumination. The needs of
disabled and elderly people have also been considered: access to The Tower
is by a long and gracious ramp that is built above the wetlands.
While ascending the ramp offers many different vistas of the physical
environment as it changes direction, simple words etched into copper plates
on the railings -- 'sanctuary', 'extinction', 'refuge', 'flight', 'migration'
-- nudge people towards a more inward journey. Kelly hopes that everyone
who experience his work will leave 'with a greater awareness of place,
of others, and of self'.
About the artist
William Kelly first arrived in Australia on a Fulbright Fellowship
in Fine Arts (1968-70) to observe and experience the cultural changes
that were occurring as a result of Australia's migration policy. He has
since become an Australian citizen and continues to observe and reflect
upon these changes. His reflections about migration, his personal experience
as a migrant and his ongoing environmental concerns inform this project.
Return to the possum skin cloak
To About the project
To the Bioregion
To the Painting the Future Real home page.
To the Imagine The Future Inc
home page.
'Painting the future real' is an initiative of Imagine
The Future Inc with the support of project partners.
For more information, contact Imagine The Future at
340 Gore Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia
phone: +61 3 9417 2033, fax: +61 3 9416 0767
email: imagine@peg.apc.org, or merrillf@dingo.vut.edu.au
[Page history: created and first published on www.ecoversity.org.au as part o f Painting the future real (1995-97), the prototype for Redreaming the plain (1998-2002); taken off-line in 1998 and re-posted in its original form in July 2004 as a web archive. For more information contact redreaming@rmit.edu.au.]