Abstract
In 2003 the Perth International Arts Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary with a commission
given to renowned British artist Antony Gormley (1950 –). Gormley’s Inside Australia is an installation
of 51 stainless steel figures situated on Lake Ballard, a dry salt lake in a remote region of
Western Australia. His initial attraction to the project was the geology and geography of
Australia’s interior but when he discovered the small community of Menzies, Gormley’s ideas
evolved towards an exploration of two separate concepts of interior space: one within us, the
other embodied in the land. Using computer technology, Gormley made digital scans of most of
the inhabitants of Menzies, reduced their lateral dimensions by two thirds and made statues
based on these measurements in cast stainless steel. In the ‘chemical’ landscape of Lake
Ballard, the Insiders resonate with the landscape and suggest a number of associations with
indigenous art, community and culture. They promote a spiritual interaction with the landscape
of interior Australia and in Gormley’s words are ‘an excuse for coming here and thinking about
this place and the people who dwell in it’. A year later, Inside Australia remains in situ and there
are plans to make it permanent. It promises to be another destination in the outback offering the
tourist a spiritual pilgrimage into Australia’s interior.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Art on the Line |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Keywords
- Antony Gormley
- Australia
- Perth Festival
- Contemporary British sculpture
- Insiders'
- site-specific art