Blue Echo - Hickory
For thousands of years, the area west of the Arden Gardens precinct in North Melbourne was a fertile wetland. The Birrarung flowed in a northwestern curve, leading to a large saltwater lagoon. The area was the gathering, hunting and fishing grounds of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Peoples of the Kulin nations, offering an abundance of natural resources.
Today, the precinct is home to a diverse community, with Collide’s work seeking to acknowledge the area’s rich history through a place-based response to Country.
Artist Jody Haines’ Blue Echo seeks to recognise the past in hopes of (re)imagining the future, while also respectfully acknowledging Woi Wurrung Sovereignty. By incorporating images and story into the form of a sweeping metal structure, the piece aims to create a space for considered reflection.
The physical work, metal in structure and interspersed with glass image panels, flows and twists to reflect the river, a natural entity that once brought so much life to the area.
At one end of the structure, a map is cut into the metal, reflecting the lake, wetlands and the North Melbourne area as it was in the 1820’s. These cut-out shapes create a sort of stencil on the walkway beneath, shifting and changing with the sun. The glass panels of the piece reflect the wetlands of the past, graduating from the brown of the soil to the lush green of marshes and trees, then finally the blue of the water and its otherworldly purple halo.
To complement this physical structure, Jody is also in the process of creating a soundscape that can be accessed online via a QR code. This element will reflect the sounds of the wetlands and its resident birds, frogs and insects - a calming and meditative immersion that can be enjoyed in place or at another time. She is also in consultation with Wurundjeri Elders to potentially include a storytelling element.
Respect for place, people and story is at the heart of Blue Echo, a piece that serves as an important reminder for all those involved in the development of property.