Category 13 General – banners, flags, infaltbles, fabric  art WINNER

Company Name: Canvas Barn Marine Trimming

Project title: Kangaroo Tales

Project location: Wurinbeena Ltd

Fabric name: kangaroo hide

Fabric supplier: kangaroo hide

Component supplier: various, General hardware.

What are the project specifications?

The entry is a re-locatable Sculpture Installation. It is made from both contemporary and traditional materials and techniques, including kangaroo skins, basket grass, perspex, lighting, hot wire burning and upholstery.

The Installation has been designed to tour Nationally as part of a state of the art re locatable art space. The art space will show case and celebrate Aboriginal art and culture.  The artwork is comprised of six large sculptural forms that can be reconfigured for performances and ceremonies.

We were invited to work with a team of artists to help problem solve the technical construction and design the final forms. We were then contracted to fabricate the armatures, lighting systems and soft sculptural layers.

What was the purpose of the project?

The entry is a re-locatable Sculpture Installation designed to enrich traditional ceremonies and contemporary performances staged in the art space. The Installation can also be exhibited at Galleries and in public spaces. The clients contracted us to problem solve technical aspects of the design, appropriate materials, construction and assemblage of sculptural forms and attachment of kangaroo skins.  We were then asked to manufacture 5 sculptural forms in collaboration with the artists. The entry is will tour inside a re-locatable art space commissioned by the Victorian Government. The wandering arts venue and installation is designed for contemporary presentation of Aboriginal arts and culture. The venue is inflatable and an artwork in itself - with cutting edge art & technology bang-up against traditional skills and materials. The entry is integral to the overall project. The arts venue will visit urban and remote regional communities. The construction of the Sculpture Installation needed to be robust enough to handle touring to these different locations.

The Sculpture Installation was launched in Lakes Entrance and will tour nationally with the art space, bringing warmth and meaning to ceremonies and celebrations as it travels across the land. The Sculpture Installation was also recently selected for a prestigious exhibition in regional Victoria gaining significant attention and extraordinary praise.

What is unique or complex about the project?

The work features exquisite hot wire drawings on bark tanned kangaroo skins. The clients asked us to mount the 10 delicate hot wire drawings onto 5 free-standing, moveable forms. These forms needed to be resilient enough to travel permanently with the larger project in Australia and overseas.  In extended consultation with the artists and project manager, the concept was resolved and the forms constructed to become the entry we know today. There was considerable lead time needed in acquiring soft, bark tanned skins in sufficient numbers to complete the job. The drawings were burned onto the10 feature skins over a period of months.  We received each art skin as it was completed and were also supplied with 40 other skins in various sizes and tones to upholster the broad surfaces of the forms around the art skin. We were also given a sketch of the project and worked up some models. The shape of each form was refined and scaled to fit the shape of a large Red Kangaroo hide The measurements and unique requirements required specialised support materials. The final design of each panel is approximately 2000mm high and 1200mm wide, in the shape of a truncated shield. Working with kangaroo hide has specific challenges.  The hide darkens if left exposed to light. This meant that the artwork had to covered completely when not being worked on to keep the skins evenly coloured. Each cut in the hide releases fur into the environment, which sticks to any surface. We had to continually vacuum the area and work to keep the fur under control.

Bark tanned kangaroo hide is extremely soft and the hide is generally very thin. The cutting had to be extremely precise and careful so as not to cut the artwork. That being said, some parts of the hide, such as the tails, are very thick. The constantly changing thickness of the skins required extreme dexterity and skill. The artwork is, of course, irreplaceable. The fur pieces were pieced together around the main art skin, and this had to be done in an artistic way that complemented each artwork.

The design brief for each piece evolved into:

- 2 art panels front and back, joined with perspex sides

- light enough to be moved by one person.

- on wheels, hidden within the piece, capable of moving on smooth floors and rough terrain.

- lit from within, to create a glowing heart for the art, requiring internal lighting installation

Custom made down lighting for each art skin, fixed to the form

-complete coverage of each panel with kangaroo fur, with the artwork skin raised and padded.

The work process is described here:

PVC board was cut to the required shape. PVC board was chosen as it is light, strong and easy to work with. It can also be glued.

PVC board edging was curved and glued to the board to take perspex and bolts and t-nuts.

Edging was covered in red sign writers print media to get the “right” depth of colour under the perspex.

Holes for bolts were drilled in edging approx 200mm apart. (just under 500 Stainless steel hex-head bolts and t-nuts were used)

Kangaroo art stretched and stapled to board with stainless steel staples over 12mm Cerex backed foam. Perspex was ordered. (After initial trial, the colour wasn’t dense enough, so it was coated with pearl film inside to obtain a deeper colour with more diffuse lighting.)

We now had a kangaroo skin on white board. We laid out skins, fur side up, to completely cover the board, and trimmed it to cover staples on the art piece. This had to be done with consideration to the number of skins available, the way the fur lay on the skin, the colour of the fur, and the overall look of each piece. It had to be respectful of both the artwork and the kangaroo.

2 Red 4mm perspex panels were bolted to join 2 art panels together. This became one unit.

The artwork needed to be lit from within. Lighting needed to be powered internally, and each unit should run approximately 14 hours without recharging. Suitable batteries and chargers were ordered.  LED strip lighting was attached along each curved edge and wired to the battery.

Removable stainless steel light frames were built by a steel fabricator and supplied to us to showcase the pieces, wired in sequence with LED lighting. Trolleys built for each installation, battery and charger attached, wired and installed into art panels. Assembly of each unit, including lighting, provide weights for the freestanding woven eel trap to keep it upright. Dust Covers for the pieces manufactured to protect them after exhibition.

What were the results of the project?

The clients needed our unique technical skill set to accomplish their creative vision. They were extremely delighted with the attention to detail and sensitivity to Indigenous protocols regarding design and consultation that we provided. They felt the finished work was true to their vision. They now have a re locatable art piece ready for exhibition anywhere in Australia and overseas. The pieces are exceptionally beautiful, they invoke deep emotional responses in all those who view them. The entry was short listed for one of Victoria’s most prestigious State Government art prizes and exhibited in a significant regional Gallery.  It received a phenomenal community response at the local launch and in the state-wide exhibition. It is now ready to tour Nationally with the art space in the near future.