Mawson Shops, 2003
A suite of artworks were designed and created by Tess Horwitz, Bev Hogg and Tony Steel for the Mawson Shops renovation based on Antarctica explorations by Douglas Mawson. The large (5 m high) cylindrical rusted steel sign with coloured glass slashes references the rusted steel industrial shapes left behind in the continent. Three tall poles topped by steel sculptural shapes (ranging from 1 to 3 m in height) reference the ship that brought Mawson to the icy continent, the sledge used in one disastrous expedition, and the love between Mawson and his fiancée Paquita. Three stainless steel bands containing engraved extracts from Douglas Mawson’s diaries. A surround to one garden bed (17 square metres) was mosaicked to resemble ice floes. The fountain (30 square metres) was mosaicked with a weather map of Antarctica. In 2019 the fountain mosaic had to be significantly renovated after vandalism by Tess Horwitz and Tony Steel.
Materials: steel, stainless steel, glass, tiles, glues, grouts.
