Celebrating the arrival of Bubbles in the landscape
The Rural City of Wangaratta is excited to announce the installation of Bubbles in the Landscape, a gateway entrance sculpture for the Prosecco Road Project, created by Victorian-based artist Alexander Knox.
Installed on Wednesday, 2nd October, the striking 6.4-metre-high sculpture can be seen up to 1km away as you approach the King Valley region at the Oxley township entrance on the Snow Road and Wangaratta-Whitfield Road intersection.
Arriving by truck, the installation took place under the watchful eye of the artist and the production team involved in the sculpture’s development. The artwork went up with the assistance of a crane, and the fabrication team assisted in ensuring its safety and correct placement. The site was immediately impacted by the brilliance of the artwork, which announced a sense of arrival, joy, and significance of place for visitors and locals.
Artist Alexander Knox said:
“An artwork like this always begins with the landscape. We have attempted to capture the colours surrounding this vista. What has surprised me the most is how accurately the colour has captured the hues of the surrounding environment. If you look at it, you’ll see about ten different hues all at once created just from the shadow and the way that the sun works.
The sculpture will function like a moving piece, trying to achieve a feeling of effervescence and shape-shifting. It is to be viewed by an audience actively moving around it. I desired that it provide a kinetic spiralling feeling, for it to almost be floating in the environment, and to my delight, that has been achieved.
I’m very pleased about the human experience on foot on the ground, but it is also effective from every point of arrival, has a punching impact on the landscape, and is successful when viewed from every angle. As a team, we have invested a great deal of time in the 3D perspective, and it has paid off. I’m very pleased with the outcome.”
Simone Nolan, Manager – Arts Culture and Events at the Rural City of Wangaratta, went on to say:
“This public art commission is a wonderful example of enabling arts and cultural opportunities in major infrastructure projects to benefit regional communities. When projects like this attract the calibre of artists like Alexander and his team, we end up with brilliant experiences for both our immediate community and the cultural tourism market.
Bubbles in the landscape uses an artist’s interpretation to provide us all with a sense of arrival, a connection to place, and a reason for others to visit our beautiful landscape in Northeast Victoria and the King Valley region.”
Inspired by the Tourism Northeast Masterplan to activate the King Valley,
the Rural City commissioned Bubbles in the landscape as part of the King Valley Prosecco Road Public Art Project, which forms part of the Victorian Government’s King Valley Prosecco Road Revitalisation Project. This project also includes township entrances for Whitfield and Cheshunt, Whitfield Adventure Playscape and Visitor Hub, and the Prosecco Road Trail.
Now that the sculpture has been installed, the area will be finalised ahead of the Community Launch on Sunday, October 20, at Sam Miranda Winery from 10am to 12pm.
The Rural City of Wangaratta invites local community members to the launch of the sculpture to celebrate this significant milestone of the Prosecco Road Project. This is a free but limited ticketed event, and all interested community members are welcome to register for a ticket at: https://prosecco-road-art.eventbrite.com.au/
