Docklands latest public art previewed

Lend Lease has previewed Docklands’ latest public art which will be installed later this year at Collins Landing where Melbourne’s most loved street meets the river.

Called The River Runs Through It, the piece is a combination of paving, sculpture and plantings.

Artist Mark Stoner said: “My principle response to this site is the notion of there being two axes. One that reflects the city grid and the built form, the other being the original flow of the site as indicated by the river. It is through the acknowledgement of the river that we can begin to understand the existence of the primary site, the alluvial mud flats of the Yarra Delta.”

“I propose to create a sculptural response that borrows from the flow and timelessness of the river. The site is a confluence of physical forces, the water flowing downstream, the river, the wind blowing upstream from the west. It is a collision of water, wind and sun.”

The installations will reference the alluvial mud flats, estuarine tidal zone, marshes and the impenetrable tea tree that once lined the river banks.

Sculpturally, the strategic placing of the compositions that make up the sculpture will create a dynamic and varied site that cannot be taken in by any one sight line or passage.

Lend Lease says the space will encourage exploration.

“The nature of the installation will encourage engagement from the viewer on many levels and in many ways,” a spokesperson said.