The Divide

1st prize winner
Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change 2018
Polystyrene, glue, sand, cement, oxides, aluminium, variable dimensions.
Photos by Matthew Stanton.

The Divide is a collection of replicas based on the anti-terrorist bollards from all around the world. These 25 sculptures are spread across most of the indoor and outdoor spaces of the gallery. Viewers are invited to reflect on the meaning of these ubiquitous objects. Do they suggest order or disorder, safety or danger, freedom or control, us or them, fake or real, true or false?

The Incinerator Art Award is the Gallery’s annual contemporary art prize of national significance, with entries received from across Australia. The award showcases 33 works inspired by the theme of art for social change. The award is inspired by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony, who believed that art and architecture practices are ethical enterprises that should aim to bring about positive social change. The awards were judged by Mark Feary (Artistic Director at Gertrude Contemporary), Melissa Keys (Curator at Buxton Contemporary) and Miriam Kelly (Curatorial Manager at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art).

The Divide is an iteration of installation Bollard City.

You can also listen to MPavilion series Public Art Field Guide by Lynda Roberts: