terrazzo tree - last post.......

I realised I did not upload any compelted images of the terrazzo tree to the web. So here are the photos of the completed works.

it looks great, we are so happy with it.

 

hundreads of people walk on it everyday, and the space is open and easy for people to enjoy

 

the terrazzo tree ties in well with the new green wall on the building as well

 

we are looking forward to the next terrazzo job.

i have also realised another thing - that this blog may have run its course. i have been blogging for 10 years or so, mostly to keep my family and specifically my mom in the loop with what i have been up to. but i am finding that i am less and less interested in being here. maybe its other means of communication have taken over, or that its time for a change, but i wont say i'm not going to ever post again, who knows but for now i will let it be, and see what happens next. thanks for all your time reading my blog.

terrazzo tree public artwork

in march this year deb and i put our hands up for a public art job. and we were lucky enough to get the gig. and so began our path towards learning about and installing a large terrazzo floor artwork in front of the adelaide city council building.

we contacted a local company monterrazzo and worked out a plan on how to make our design in terrazzo.

 

i posted previously about the process to get the design drawn up.  so it was an exciting day when we began laying the brass down on site. a base slab with the reinforcements had already been poured to the right level and allowed to set up for a week or so

we brought our pre bent and braised brass drawing to site on large mdf panels.

 

it was like a large puzzle to put together

 

after a couple hours we were making progress and setting the brass in place with nails and glue.

 

we previously did some colour tests and mixed different oxides and aggregates together to make the colours for our design. for this project we are using locally sourced stones in the terrazzo.

 

and then the 'boys' began the time consuming task of placing the terrazzo mixture in the areas of the design in between the brass strips.

 

this is the off white colour in the tree trunk section.

 

then once it is in place the 'boys' keep revisiting the surface, filling in all the gaps and taping the terrazzo to get the air out.

after that we wait for it to set

 

hope it doesnt rain and get ready to do it again tomorrow

so happy after that first colour was in, 

 

the next colour was a dark green, again with natural stone aggregates mixed in.

 

at the base with the 2 colours coming together.

a very time consuming but relatively straightforward process. we really enjoyed watching it be filled in.

this second colour took a few days to get down as it covered a large area of the design

 

and it started to rain, so we were delayed a bit even though we did all we could to try and make a dry space to work. 

terrazzo does not like the rain, cold or extreme hot temperatures, so that makes it hard to install outside in winter, but we managed

 

  

of course we had to put our signature in the work

the artwork is in place to commemorate the 175 years of the city council, and compliment the current council initiative to create green spaces in the city. 

our idea was a tree that was green, and had 175 branch ends, one for each year.

the third colour mix was a lighter green, to come in a meet the darker green.

again this colour took a few days to be set into place.

our team worked well and we made some great progress even despite it being the wettest June in a long time with records rain falls. not ideal conditions

one colour left to mix and install across the top of the design. at this point it all looks very flat and you cant see the aggregate yet.

we ground back a small area that had set up already to see what the finished product would look like

this is the sneak peak of what the finished surface will look like with the different mixes of stone aggregates and cement mix. we were so happy at this point. more about this project soon.

arty fencing installation

a couple weeks ago deb and nelson and myself went to site to install the 4 arty fences. it was of course an overcast day with period of down pours of rain, but we had fun anyways.

the posts were already in place so we just had to line up each panel and drill them into place.

 

the leaf one installed looking at the front

and then the back of the fence

 

nelson leveling the caterpillar fence panel

the fence panel in place

 

they are really nice installed because the panel and image are not solid, the perforations mean you can see through the panel and the image is ghost-like

cherry blossom fence panel from the back

 

and from the front, you really get a feel for the transparency of the image and the perforations in this photo. 

the butterfly wing panel from the front. as you can see the park is yet to be completed, still some landscaping to do, but it should be done and open to the public in the next couple weeks.

adoption artwork installation

carrying on from my last post, we had the rocks ready to go and now we were setting up for the install.

and it all begins with digging the set down area for the rocks. which meant digging 3 large holes.

it was going well until we hit a very large tree root. thank god we had the help of nelson to get us through this.

 

after a long day of digging and chopping through roots we had our gravel bases ready

 

the next day we arrived on site early before the sun rose to meet the crane. this is the largest crane we have ever hired - 200 tone - we were very excited!

 

it took a couple hours to set up the crane,

 

and the delivery arrived mid morning with our 3 large rocks!

months of prep and planning, and designing came down to this morning and lifting about 13 tons of granite above the tree tops and through the air.

 

it was a stressful and exciting morning. but all went as planned.

 

there was a nice poetry seeing this heavy rock gliding peacefully and slowly over the trees

the crane team was great, and positioned the rocks on site easily.

 

loading up the third rock that will be used as a seat for the sculpture.

 

a view looking up at the memorial in place with the 200 ton crane in the background.

 

giant boulder of granite moving through the air

the boulder was placed near the final spot but due to the trees on site we needed to get a second smaller crane on site to move the boulder into its final position.

this was a bit unexpected, but in the end it necessary. the crane team made it happen and we were very happy to see the last rock in place

 

here we are trying out the placement of the seating rock before it is unchained with one of the crane company guys.

 

that was the end of a long, exciting day.

 

for the next few days we were back on site with nelson again prepping hte site and paving around the seat rock

 

we used granite pavers called sets to create an undulating ground area around the rock

 

a few scattered pavers are set within the grass, leading out towards the split rock units.

there are some pavers in the paved areas with text sandblast into them with words relating to the project.

 

as we left the site after a week long install all up. it will take some time for the site to recover from the installation process. the site is near the river in a parkland area, and it will be a nice place for visitors to reflect on their own experiences in regards to adoption histories.

 

here is the site about a couple weeks later, on a visit while walking the dog. the official launch in in 2 weeks, the first time to have the whole community that was behind this project on site to celebrate this accomplishment for their community.

i will post some photos from that event as it happens.