Client: FORM
Location: Albany, Australia
Completion date: 2019
Project Team
Artist
Bruce Munro
Bruce Munro Studio
Art Consultant
FORM building a state of creativity
FORM building a state of creativity
Overview
An immersive 350 metre long art installation by Bruce Munro, Field of Light: Avenue of Honour pays homage to the Anzacs with 16,000 shining spheres at Mt Clarence, Albany marking the last sight of home for 41,000 troops who departed from Albany for the Great War. As the sun sets on Mt Clarence, the spheres illuminate creating a reflective and somewhat emotional experience among the trees.
Goals
The goal of the ephemeral landscape firstly was honouring 100 years since the First World War’s end and celebrating Albany’s unique biodiversity with thousands of lights shining in the whites, yellows and greens of the wattle and the kowhai, the national flowers of Australia and New Zealand. Bruce Munro's Field of Light: Avenue of Honour highlights the region’s unique sense of place and identity in sophisticated, contemporary ways and symbolises wild beauty, sacrifice, courage and honour. Utilising culture and art as a mechanism for tourism and education were other major goals for this project; with visitor numbers five times the anticipated figures, this has been achieved.
Process
The installation was commissioned by independent, non-profit cultural organisation FORM with the City of Albany and made possible by funding from the Australian Government through the Building Better Regions Fund and the State Government through Tourism Western Australia and Lotterywest. FORM and Bruce's partnership began in 2016, with FORM inviting Bruce on a number of site visits to Albany to develop the installation. Community collaboration has driven the project - over 50 volunteers assisted the artist with the artwork installation, while another 10 volunteers assist staff nightly during the exhibition. The local community have been the ambassadors for the project, with many of themselves returning a number of times
Additional Information
The art installation coincides with peak wildflower season and the conclusion of the Anzac Centenary commemorations, exhibiting from October 2018 through to Anzac Day in April 2019. During this period the exhibition drew over 186,000 visitors - 5 times its expected numbers, boosting tourism dramatically in the region. www.fieldoflightalbany.com.au