Lightlines 2017-18

lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane
lightlines - davisthomas - Buranda Brisbane

Lightline both draws from the curatorial brief and our research into a rich and entwined history of transportation and community that continues to be a constant in this Buranda location. Our concept is influenced by the history of this site through the materiality and visual language of the artwork, whilst the kinetic elements embedded in the artwork are designed to react to the wind, making a unique artwork at the very moment of viewing.  

 

The curatorial theme of Evolve is an evocative term that resonates deeply with our interest in liminal moments and our desire to capture, extended and express the transformative between one clear state and another. Using this thematic driver we took a multi-faceted approach to thinking about the site, taking inspiration and making connects to the location via multiple layers and paces of time; be these the layers of geological time, social histories, or indeed the histories yet to be made by the local community living and using this site. Lightline has evolved from thinking about the site through these ideas; ideas that have influenced the concept design, materiality, lighting and title of the work.

 

These poetic yet evident causal links between rails and reason for Buranda as a transit hub location is expresses through the multiple routes running from the outer edges of the artwork to a central sculptural element.  Equally the more esoteric ideas of life-lines, journeys, transformation, and transition find expression through the artwork’s use of materials that flow from the dark/heavy/physical to the light/lite/ephemeral.  The heavier base elements, made of black-pigmented GRFC extend up into the sky, through a graduated stepping transition of materials, to the lighter flutter stainless steel electro-polished kinetic elements. These elements work with the omnipresent wind and sunlight to generate flicker and flashes of light throughout the day, creating an immediacies and aliveness in the work reflecting the essence of inner-city life. 

 

At night the lighting brings a new layer of time-based lighting. Inspired by the three main modes of transportation intersecting at Buranda: cars, buses, and rail the light lines echo the lines captured in time-lapse images of vehicles at night. The lighting is integrated into the routes of each element, with each route lighting up in a five-minute sequence, thus acting as a passive clock indicating the passing of time through these transitions.  

 

The overall design also has hints of a ghost tree - playing on the phonetics of the word route to engender roots and place. The geological time of the landscape (natural and manmade) that make up Place are entwine with the contemporary pace of time reflected in transport timetables, and the daily routines of the people using the Buranda hub.