The softer side of Docklands

The softer side of Docklands

An installation at local artist-led gallery The Front has invited visitors to consider Docklands’ urban environment and community.

An Architecture for Secrets is a large-scale artwork consisting of hundreds of handmade paper pyramids. Visitors were invited to use the paper forms to build new structures.

The delicate nature of the tissue paper pyramids made gentle, slow movements necessary.

According to artist Shelley Krycer, the installation is also a reflection of the surrounding urban environment and angular architecture.

But unlike Docklands’ commercial and apartment structures, the forms are soft and malleable, meaning construction involves experimentation and adjustments.

A description of the installation states: “As irregular as the angles that make up these forms, so too are the many individuals that make up a community. How we dwell, live, work amongst each other and share space successfully is a provisional ongoing process. The process, like this installation takes many hands.”

The Front is part of Renew Australia’s Docklands Spaces project, which allows creative initiatives to access unleased spaces.

Curator Deb Bain-King said there had been plenty of interest and involvement from local residents and workers.

And with a large shopfront window opening onto Docklands Drive, the gallery is perfectly situated to attract interest from passersby on the street and on the tram.

The Front’s next exhibition, by artist Aaron Martin, features a video projection and sculptures cast from objects found on the side of the road in Docklands. The exhibition’s official opening is on
October 12.

The Front is open Wednesday to Saturday between 12pm and 5pm.

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