‘Listen to a Pipe Dreaming’ is a contemporary sculpture that drivers and pedestrians just can’t help noticing.
The steel sculpture stands 2 metres high, extending a trunk like presence out to the city as though proclaiming or trumpeting the good news of an upcoming art exhibition at the Cathedral of St Stephen.
The Cathedral of St Stephen Art Group (COSSAG) approached artist Christopher Trotter to provide a suitable sculpture to coincide with the exhibition’s theme: Restoring the Lost and the Broken.
Christopher Trotter, a local artist whose works consist of recycled materials, was inspired to create the piece by, “water, growth and life”.
“The rolling pipe forms refer to power, turbulence and tranquillity; like a surfer facing a rolling wave, life takes us through rolling emotions.
“At times, a wave can induce emotions of fear and uncertainty often followed by turbulence and change; in the end, peace and tranquillity,” he said.
Recently appointed Dean of the Cathedral, Very Rev Dr David Pascoe, said, “I’d been asking myself is there a way to engage with the multitudes of people passing through and not just churchgoers, but all people. So when the COSSAG committee asked me if this was OK it was a very easy decision to make.”
“My first reaction was ‘I have no idea what it is’, but I’m excited about putting it into the precinct because people will react to it.
“The Cathedral’s position in Brisbane’s CBD and the whole space surrounding it – green space, wall space, in between space, is such a thoroughfare and I look forward to sharing its existing notable art and present and future installations and acquisitions with a wider audience.
“The placement of the contemporary sculpture in a prominent position in the Cathedral grounds symbolises the need to ask the question of how the Church might engage in many different ways with the city, and in this case, especially through the dimension of art,” he said.
The art exhibition, Restoring the Lost and the Broken will be held in the Francis Rush Centre, within the Cathedral grounds, 277 Elizabeth St. from 16-18th March. The opening times are 9am to 5pm. All works of art will be for sale (enquiries 38709427).
Trotter’s interesting public works can be seen throughout Brisbane at Kangaroo Point, Corinda, Alderley, Kippa-Ring, Ipswich, Redlands, Acacia Ridge, Logan City, Oxley, Coorparoo, Geebung, Goodna, Redlands and in George Street, Brisbane and at many other locations across Queensland.
‘Listen to a Pipe Dreaming’ will be in place for two months.
Released by The Catholic Communications Office
February 21, 2013