TORUS
TORUS, 2020
This project was a collaboration between The Rural City of Murray Bridge, Murray Bridge High School staff and students. In early March 2020, I began working collaboratively with the MBHS teachers and approximately 75 Year 8 and 50 Year 11 Visual Art and Design Students to develop the concept design for a public artwork to fit the brief outlined by the council.
Several class lessons were held prior to the COVID19 pandemic when the related school closures presented many disruptions and required for sessions and meetings to be provided online. It was determined to progress despite the challenges and live classroom sessions were recommenced in July. Working together we created a site model, developed a concept design and model, which was considered and approved by the council.
In August 2020, the approved concept underwent detailed design development with fabrication commencing in September with students contributing to the fabrication (making, designing, and glazing) of over 280 terracotta tiles. Installation on site began in October and was completed and launched in late November 2020.
The student’s participation contributed to meeting either SACE or Australian Curriculum Learning Criteria (ACARA) through their contribution throughout the project, concept design, fabrication, installation and launch celebrations.
In response to the project brief, students were invited to find the words that best describe how they want Murray Bridge to be and responses included: safe, clean, interesting, open, creative, exciting, not too big, inclusive, sporty and multicultural.
When asked what they would like to see in the park students expressed interest in making the park more inviting, to make young people want to spend time in rather than just traverse through. Suggestions included public toilets, more seating, landscaping throughout the park, natural shade, a BBQ area, and playground equipment.
When asked to draw or describe a public artwork that they would like to have in the park ideas included seating or benches, maybe round ones, a donut seat, lizard sculptures/path, tunnels and archways, river footpath, free art, outdoor gallery graffiti walls, murals on the fences at the edge of the park, bird box sculpture, stand-alone sculptures, river path in the ground, colourful cheery flags. Students agreed that they wanted it to be colourful, attractive, exciting, interactive, sculptural, big, bright, and significant.
Taking into consideration the discussion with the students and their wishes for what it is they were looking for to make them want to spend time in the park and engage with the space, I reviewed all the possible concepts that we had come up with and began to develop these ideas a bit further. To my surprise and delight the concept that I feel is most likely to fit the brief, meet some of the student’s desires and be an interesting “thing” for us to make is based on the concept of – The Donut!
I know a bit of a surprise right?! The humble donut – almost immediately most of us can imagine a similar looking iced and sprinkled circular shaped fried desert.
The reason I was drawn to the donut it for its simplicity to begin with. I liked the shape, basically a circle, or 2 rings. But once you investigate further you stumble across the mathematics of a torus shape and that donut shapes are everywhere - from theories on the universe, architecture, donut economics,
The other reason I liked the donut as a starting point for the concept is that there is no edge, no hierarchy, the circle is continuous and collective, it is whole and includes everyone. This idea fits nicely for me in a community space as a shape to start working with.
The donut also makes the connection to the community and multicultural living in Murray Bridge, it also references the importance of food production in the region and has a nice link with small town bakeries.
The donut shape was the starting point. It was to be a place for people to meet, spend time and hang out and feel safe.
The design of TORUS was developed around the metaphor of the donut inspired by these various rich meanings as a seating structure, comprising gabion walls and wooden seating forming the donut, with a central area paved donut with terracotta tiles. The students contributed to making, designing and glazing the tiles depicting diverse cultural and family stories of interest and significance. The sandstone in the gabion walls was salvaged from the recently demolished Bridgeport Hotel which was built in 1884, which the artist and students used to fill the gabion cages.
The work itself successfully navigates the precarious territory of being a contemporary public artwork that functions as a meaningful piece of urban furniture. The challenging site was selected by council as an underutilised, dusty thoroughfare for students en-route between home and school. The artwork now provides a destination focal point for the park and welcomes people to visit, gather and dwell.
Photo credit Michael Haines Photography