Publisher
Wagga Wagga City CouncilLocation
Wagga Wagga City CouncilStart date
2020-03-20Language
engNotes
Rural Type Exchange can now be viewed in the public art projection collection of Wagga Wagga, NSW. Viewable on the council chambers as a 50 mtr projectionRecognition, awards & prizes
Winner of the 2019 Bright Lights Projection CommissionResearch statement
Background
Place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity (Auge, 1995), yet ‘what makes a place a place like no other’? (Smith, 2000). Representations of place are frequently resolved at sites of production far removed from the cultures, places and peoples they represent. This work challenges these ideas via an augmented query on our understanding of place, and stories of place through engagement with typography. The research specifically looks at how collaborative practices between an artist, designer and community generate new knowledge that interconnects the rich history of a place, its culture and includes its people.
Contribution
Redrawing the above ideas, the work transpired from the rich history of typography in advertising and the built environment in Wagga, NSW. Digitally constructed from over 5000 fragments of archival material from Wagga’s socio-cultural histories the work is significant in achieving a reconceptualisation of place contributing a new understanding explored through and with typography. The work explores place from within to challenge conventions of how representations are often constructed. Initially developed within a community of practice the work resulted in an experimental short film produced as a site-specific outdoor 50 metre projection.
Significance
Winner of the prestigious Australian Bright Lights Projection Commission in 2019. It’s significance resides in being honoured as the commemorative artwork celebrating 150yrs of the municipality of Wagga in NSW, and also through the piece’s original contribution to the fields of place-making, public art and experimental typography with positive implications for regional arts programming.Publication classification
J2 Minor original creative work
