There are various ways opportunities arise to work on large-scale ceramic projects. Some Municipal Councils have in place cultural policies incorporating a public art component, or commissions could arise through institutions such as schools or during corporate developments. It is always possible for projects to be initiated by artists themselves, with funding sought through grants or sponsorship, usually in partnership with a community organisation.

Diogenes Farri and I have worked together on a variety of projects and we consider that in the urban setting, public art has the ability to serve a ‘didactic’ role as well as contribute to the cultural vitality of a place. Some members of the community may have little affinity with fine art found in galleries, especially art that may be academic or conceptual. We feel that by involving the community in the design or incorporating elements contributed by them, people are given the chance to engage with a work and so develop an imaginative relationship with it.

Above: Community participant works on tile designs

Technical Data

Pavement inserts were cast in one-piece plaster moulds using a midrange casting slip fired to cone 01:

clay ceram 50

nepheline syenite 35

silica (200 mesh) 15

+ addition of colouring oxides

Hand drawn tiles were cut from a white raku body, sliced directly from the bag then painted with the coloured slips used for casting pavement tiles fired to cone 01:

Mosaic grouting:

fine sand 2

cement 1

+ colouring oxide and dilute concrete sealant

The project illustrated here was an initiative of Bankstown Council who advertised for artists to submit an expression of interest for a public artwork. We put together a brief resume of our past experience, individual CVs and visual documentation of our collaborative work. From this, we were selected to present a concept proposal responding to a detailed brief of project requirements. In working on the initial concept, we set up clear aims of what we wanted to achieve, namely to improve the functionality and enhance the site - a small but busy plaza featuring a large painted mural where local shoppers gather daily to meet, rest, eat lunch and play Chinese Chess. Our proposal aimed to maximise the available open space in the plaza by incorporating two-dimensional pavement inserts, and the transformation of a planter bed wall into an undulating ‘dragon seat’. This involved a range of ceramic elements, including mosaic, vitrified paving tiles, pavement inserts of decorative motifs and hand formed tiles community members could make individual marks upon. To balance this complexity of elements, we kept imagery bold and uncluttered, working within a restricted palette.

In our experience one of the main considerations in planning a project is to try to remain realistic within the proposed budget. It is easy to get over enthusiastic but simplification of a concept will help develop a practical solution. The most important design issue is not the size of a work; rather it is that the scale of the work sits comfortably within its surroundings. In preparing the presentation it is worth considering that a committee is probably making the selection and will involve them choosing between a number of designs. Presentation should be precise and legible, often the detail being less important than conveying the overall idea. Our concept proposal included sketches, mock up photos of the site and scale drawings to give an indication of how the work would look, as well as written documentation and a preliminary budget breakdown.