Mural comes to life

Mural comes to life

A team of artists is currently creating a larger-than-life mural in Docklands.  

The Water, The River, The Town is a large-scale mural being painted on the side of the Aurecon building in Victoria Harbour.

Lend Lease commissioned the work through a partnership with RMIT University’s Art in Public Space program.

Artists Pixi Mix and Christopher Bold are alumni of the program and beat a field of competitors to have their work selected.

The artwork is about 37 metres long and 10 metres high and takes up most of the Import Lane side of the Aurecon building.

Pixi said the artwork reflected on the organic nature and man-made influences of the surrounding area.

When complete, the artwork will feature two fish-scale patterns. One pattern is of the brown trout, an introduced species.  

The other fish scale pattern is of the tupong, a small native species that travels down the Yarra to marine areas like Docklands once a year to breed.

When complete, the artwork will have a watery sheen, creating the appearance of a fish skin.

Pixi said this echoed Docklands’ history of fellmongery. Fellmongers are traders of animal skins and hides and were common in Docklands in the 19th century.

The top line of the mural is of the highest and most recent tidal marking found on the Victoria Harbour pier.

Pixi said this marking signified the time that the building was built and occupied.

She said the artwork reflected on the past and present of Docklands, which gave it the feeling of representing the area.

RMIT Art in Public Space program director Geoff Hogg said the creation of the mural on-site gave it a sense of emerging into the area.

“One of the important things is that the work is being created on-site. It becomes part of the life and activity of the area,” Dr Hogg said.

The artists, and their assistant Pablo Alvarado have been working on the mural for about three and a half weeks.

If all goes to plan the artwork will be completed by the second week of December.

Lend Lease has also commissioned a second artwork through its partnership with the RMIT Art in Public Space program.

Work on a mural on the façade of the Lifestyle Working Collins Street building will start in 2013.

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