Look both ways

Look both ways is one of eight commissioned art-trams part of Melbourne Festivals Visual art program in partnership with Creative Victoria and Yarra Trams. The theme for the 2015 commissions was Architecture and the City and so my response was to visualise the idea of demolition, as something familiar and evocative, but not necessarily celebrated. My commissioned tram was an A class tram running along route 70 and 75, from Wattle park to the Docklands. Look both ways reflects how cities, especially a great city like Melbourne, are in a perpetual state of change and renewal. At any one time there is constant demolition, clearing, redevelopment and construction going on in our urban environment. The spectacular void of the construction site, appearing in place of something that once was, is always a mesmerizing sight, even if the change is not welcome. While the demolition site can often be an emotional site of nostalgic loss and trauma, there is also the other more utopian aspect of demolition, that of renewal. The 'cultural value of the void' has been discussed by Herbert Muschamp in relation to the rebuilding of the 9/11 memorial site.* As a continuation of my PhD research, 'Look both ways' made use of the motif of demolition as another form of caricature both literal and metaphorical. The idea of demolition enabled the notion of visual flattening as both subject matter and methodology. The work itself was consistent both graphically and chromatically with my previous works. The Art Trams have been widely publicized and documented via Melbourne Festival and Yarra Trams. *http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-02-26/news/1995057040_1_loizeaux-explosives-demolition

《Look both ways》是墨尔本艺术节视觉艺术项目委托创作的八辆艺术电车之一，该项目由创意维多利亚（Creative Victoria）与雅拉电车公司（Yarra Trams）合作开展。2015年委托创作的主题为‘建筑与城市’，因此我的创作回应是将‘拆除’这一概念视觉化——它既熟悉又具唤起性，却未必是值得颂扬的对象。我所创作的电车为A类车型，行驶于70号和75号线路，往返于沃特利公园（Wattle Park）与港区（Docklands）之间。《Look both ways》映射出城市——尤其是墨尔本这样的伟大城市——如何始终处于变迁与更新的永恒状态。在任何时刻，我们的城市环境中都在持续进行着拆除、清理、重建与新建工程。建筑工地那壮观的空白地带取代了曾经存在的事物，即便这种变化不受欢迎，它也始终是令人着迷的景象。尽管拆除现场往往是承载怀旧失落与创伤情绪的场所，但拆除也具有另一重更具乌托邦色彩的维度——即更新的维度。赫伯特·穆尚普（Herbert Muschamp）曾就9·11纪念遗址重建问题探讨过‘空白的文化价值’。* 作为我的博士研究的延续，《Look both ways》将拆除这一母题用作另一种形式的讽刺画（caricature）——兼具字面与隐喻双重意义。拆除的概念使得‘视觉扁平化’这一理念既能作为创作主题，也能成为方法论。该作品在图形与色彩方面均与我此前的创作保持一致。这些艺术电车已通过墨尔本艺术节与雅拉电车公司得到广泛宣传与记录。*http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-02-26/news/1995057040_1_loizeaux-explosives-demolition