Embracing Devonport's Public Art Assets
Forty years ago, the geometric welded steel sculpture Vertex by acclaimed Sydney artist Ron Robertson-Swann caused controversy in Devonport.
The Vertex sculpture at Devonport by Sydney artist Ron Robertson-Swann.
VERTEX
Ron Robertson-Swann
1980-82
Donated to the people of Devonport by the Visual Arts Board, The Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board, G.J. Coles PTY LTD, The Devonport City.
A community Service Project Co-Ordinated by Devonport Jaycees
It ended up in the Rooke Street mall before being relocated to Bluff Road near the walking track.
The 2021 valuation for the Robertson-Swann piece was $180,000.
Another public art uproar severely polarised the city when Aden McLeod's bronze Spirit of the Sea, was purchased with public funds and erected at the mouth of the Mersey in 2009.
People loved or hated it but the reason many were upset was because the public art project was not put to tender having cost $250,000 of which $180,000 came from the State Government. The rest was community raised.
It was not just Devonport residents who failed to appreciate Robertson-Swann’s formalist style back in the day. The artist is best known for a sculpture in Melbourne titled Vault, which was nicknamed “The Yellow Peril” when it was commissioned by the Melbourne City Council in 1978. In a familiar theme, ratepayers baulked at the $70,000 price tag. After just seven months at its intended site in City Square, Vault was relocated to Batman Park, then outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Southbank in 2002.
Robertson-Swann, now the head of sculpture at the National Art School in Sydney, says there was an upside to the controversy over both Vault in Melbourne and Vertex in Devonport. “In the beginning it was hard but after a while it made me famous,” he says.
Contemporary Art Tasmania director Michael Edwards, who sits on the Arts Tasmania selection panel, says whether or not a work is publicly funded greatly impacts on public perceptions. “Public funds being used in arts projects seems to raise the ire of the community,” Edwards says. He argues “mum and dad” Tasmanians have been more willing to embrace the often challenging and abstract works presented by Mona because they are largely privately funded.
“A mum and dad would go to a crazy sound sculpture and they didn’t get it, but they thought it was fun and thought what a nice man David Walsh was,” Edwards says. “But if that had been publicly funded it probably wouldn’t attract that response.”
But Edwards is keen to point out that most publicly funded artwork is not fraught with controversy. “There’s quite a lot of public art out there and you don’t hear about it that much,” he says. “But if you get it wrong you do hear about it.”
Addendum: 4th Feb.2023. VERTEX GOT A 40 YEAR SPRUCE UP. This (in)famous geometric welded steel sculpture received a $10-15K restoration job, sandblasting and repainting. That alone has created a new controversy when I posted the new look sculpture on the "Devonport Local History" page.
To Log This Find :
1. We require a photo of Vertex with a leafy background which you have taken at the location. Consider having a photo of a geocacher (visible face not required) pointing at the sculpture, or maybe just some personal items in the picture.
2. Send your photo to the CO along with your answer to the question below.
3. Near by there are a number of light posts (not power poles). Send us the service telephone number along with Q2. above.
You can log the "Find", but your log will be deleted if you do not send through your photo and answer to the question.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NickandAbb WHO SENT ANSWERS TO US 10 MINUTES AFTER PUBLICATION. AWSMOE WORK !