Brown, J (2005).
Central Coast Community Environment Network
January 2005, 11 (journal)

Sculpture

Since the beginning of 2004, Central Coast Community Environment Network (CCCEN) has been involved in a collaborative artwork in the central thoroughfare of the Ourimbah Campus.

CCCEN have been auspicing a Gosford City Council cultural grant for a project to work with Morriset Hospital clients to create three circular granite and brass works with horticultural elements.

CCCEN will assist with the planting components by providing advice on plant types and participating in planting workshops.

As part of the management team Michael Marley, Landscaper for the campus, has been instrumental in providing guidance on environmental concerns as well as being a great supporter of the project.

The artwork aims to create a quiet place for contemplation in the bushland setting and as part of the consultation process permission to use the land was received by Darkinjung Land Council.

As coordinator of the project, my idea for the design work was formalized into three works representing the phases of the initiation process: submission, containment and liberation. Social ecologists, such as Stuart Hill, refer to these stages as deceptive simplicity, confusing complexity and profound simplicity.

The 2 meter diameter circular works comprise simple geometric shapes where the granite and brass strips lay flush with the grassed ground that surrounds them.

When I discussed the project with Sandy O’Sullivan she informed me the Ourimbah area is possibly an Indigenous men’s initiation site. After a period of consultation to find out more about current and past practice you are reminded of the importance of opening up conversation spaces. The site is now being used as a space for learning where Indigenous young and older people of both genders inhabit.

Justin Steele from Morriset Hospital has been developing innovative programs to involve forensic clients in community cultural activities and a preliminary site visit has been made to discuss ideas around how planting can flag and frame the artworks, and assist in guiding viewers around the space. Working in with the natural bushland and formal design style of the built campus provides an interesting meeting point for plant choice and design considerations.