Bonita Ely: Sustainable Public Art
Dr Bonita Ely is developing a prototype public sculpture to research her piece Thunderbolt. The Prototype will research the components of the Thunderbolt sculpture. It will be approximately 5 meters high, delicately cross-braced, and made of the same angle iron used for communication and electricity towers. The piece will be painted with photovoltaic paint so that it will be phosphorescent at night. Its illumination is by integrated lighting fixtures controlled by a computer linked to the internet and the piece will run on its own power, ‘off the grid’.
Bonita participated in the Art Exchange’s S.H.A.P.E (Sustainable Horizons and Public Engagement) residency program in Broken Hill (2009/10), supported by Arts New South Wales. The sculpture is part of a linkage project between the Australian Research Council, the Environmental Research Initiative for Art (ERIA), UNSW COFA and the Centre for Community, Broken Hill. The aim is to test experimental technologies and ecological models for new interdisciplinary installations aimed at regenerating degraded sites and producing sustainable public art.
The sculpture builds upon many established roles for art installation in public locations with the aim of creating a new, sustainable prototype that enhances the theatre of social dialogue surrounding environmental issues. In the demanding testing ground of a large scale, unorthodox, electrical, and electronic public artworks, this sculpture will test new, robust technologies towards addressing problems of ecological degradation pertaining to the extravagant use of energy.
It is hoped that once Prototype is installed further funding will be forthcoming to enable the full size Thunderbolt to be built in Broken Hill. ‘Cat’, from the Broken Hill Art Exchange, sourced the materials for the sculpture and worked from Bonita’s scaled model to construct the Prototype. After construction he delivered the piece to Sydney Olympic Park for installation. The sculpture has been commissioned by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and will be erected in September 2010.
Scaled model of Thunderbolt
Cat with scaled model
Cat constructing prototype in Broken Hill
Bonita and Cat with prototype at ERIA's Sydney Olympic Park workshop
Proposed installation site at Sydney Olympic Park
