18 October 2017

A Blue Sun (2017)

Visitors to the Perth Cultural Centre will have in recent weeks encountered the mysterious and luminous Blue Sun, a new public artwork created by artist Joshua Webb for the Alex Hotel. 

Commissioned by Cicero Projects as a part of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority’s percent for art policy, Blue Sun is a 3m glowing blue tetrahedral loop that cantilevers outwards from the corner of the Alex Hotel. The sculpture floats effortlessly two stories above Lock Laneway, hovering – like a geometric halo – paused in motion; an abstract science fiction made real but still just beyond our reach.

Sensitively aligned with the ethos and architecture of the boutique Alex Hotel, Blue Sun creates a sanctuary within the Lock Laneway, transforming the once shadowy laneway into an otherworldly and mesmerising atmosphere, inviting visitors to bathe in the cool, calm and tranquil ocean of pure blue light.  

Webb describes the artwork as an allegorical sun which employs abstraction, the materiality of light and architectural history to produce an open-ended narrative, an experiment with ‘conceptual formalism’ for contemplation and consideration. “I think of it as an impossible object; something that should not exist, a jewel, a crown, a halo, a portal, an abstraction made real by sculpting with the most ephemeral of materials… light”. 

Joshua Webb is an Australian born visual artist (1981), who has exhibited across Australia, the USA and Europe. His artistic practice has been in parallel to his academic pursuits; BFA, Curtin University, Australia, MFA – Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design, USA, and his experience working as an industrial designer for a select group of technology firms.

His practice is located within the mutually exclusive areas between disciplines like; art, design, architecture, film, economics, technology, literature and philosophy. This research examines the relationships between aesthetics, language and meaning; it recontextualises visual language to design aesthetic systems and construct conceptual narratives to make art that can relocate meaning to create something new. The product of this work is by nature interdisciplinary in form; manifesting itself as art that is moving or still images, sculptures and installations.

• Artwork: Blue Sun by Joshua Webb
• Location: Alex Hotel, 102 William Street, Northbridge WA
• Medium: Anodized Aluminum, polycarbonate, PMMA, LEDS, Stainless steel & brass
• Dimensions: 3 meters outer diameter / 112kg
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