Wide Brown Land 2011
Corten Steel
45mtr long x 3.5mtr high
Statement
An Arts ACT Commission initially intended for a shopping precinct in Canberra in 2007. Although the initial proposal was rejected, the concept was later revisited with a larger scale and context in train…
Wide brown land was to be scaled up to be seen from kilometres away on Canberra’s roadways. Canberra Arboretum was selected because of its expansive vistas and potential for pedestrian visitors to physically engage with the sculpture.
A collaboration between writer Chris Viney, graphic artist Kate Owen and Marcus Tatton who participated as the public artist on the project.
Once the concept of using Dorethia McKellar’s poem ‘My Country’ was selected, Tatton drew and conceived the work strewn across the landscape. He then sculpted the maquette and full scale frames in Tasmania. The frames were transported to Melbourne where J.K. Fasham fabricated the sculpture in corten. The three scripted words (taken from McKellar’s diary) were installed in Canberra in 2010.