Big Things Down Under

Telescopus – by Dominic Johns

I had the pleasure of meeting Dom at the 2008 SAMA conference held this past March in Miami. From Parramatta Park, Australia, Dominic is just a great guy and definitely passionate about everything he does, as you can tell by his loving embrace of his newest work.

Upon completion this is what Dom has to say: Telescopus is in and I’m feeling very happy now. This project has been approx 1000 hours to bring to fruition and now I’m ready for the next one. Moving the work was a tense experience, but we managed to do it without breaking anything. So get down to the Cairns Esplanard 'nard’ opposite 181 The Esplanade and check it out. The cut face glows in the dark!

Mosaic Streets

Lisbon Streets - Scott Hansen

Streets of Taxco

I learn more about my own country by traveling to other places. I visited Taxco, MX and saw some amazing mosaics. Not art, not even building decoration, but the streets. Streets? Can you imagine this happening in your town. Sadly I think not unless you live at Disneyland. Why? Practically, yes that's part of it. We couldn't afford the time and labor it takes to create this. More importantly we cant expect any BMW Roadster or ladies in their $500.00 Jimmy Choo's to endure the bumps and cracks these beautiful streets create. The lawsuits from broken heels alone put them out of our financial reach.

These streets are not contracted public art. They are built out of necessity by craftsmen who took the time to create designs as they built them, not because the designs were necessary, but because it was necesary for them to create something of beauty, that creates landmarks, and give the viewer something to look forward to as the buzz about town. Here we are more concerned that our shoes look good than our public spaces. Taxpayers gasp when we hear the that 1% or less of public building project budgets are spent on art. That's $1000.00 dollars or less for every million that the building costs. That's 2 pairs of Jimmy Choo's! Maybe we should be more concerned that the contractor is the governor's brother-in-law and that the material supplier is charging 3x the normal standard for a 2 x 4.

Rant complete! At least for now................................................