The people have spoken: Votes multiply for giant bunny sculpture
It became the focus of the media spotlight and the major attraction for art lovers and families, and now “the Sydney rabbit” has been officially recognised as the people’s favourite at the 2012 UWS Sculpture Exhibition.
Antipodean Vision – the 1.8m metre high fibreglass rabbit standing before a reflected vision of heaven, by Sydney artist Chris Leaver – has been announced as the winner of the $5,000 Landcom People’s Choice Award.
UWS Curator, Monica McMahon, says it has been fantastic to close the Exhibition on such a positive note.
“Chris Leaver’s sculpture is such a worthy winner of the Landcom People’s Choice Award,” says Ms McMahon.
“On the first weekend that the exhibition opened, the public flooded in to see the big bunny. Children caught sight of it from their cars and insisted on seeing it first, and going by the votes, it’s clear that it captured the imaginations of our adult guests as well.”
Emilia Lombardo with her favourite sculpture, Chris Leaver's 'Antipodean Vision'
In a Daily Telegraph story about the UWS Sculpture Exhibition, Antipodean Vision was tipped to become Sydney’s ultimate animal-themed artwork, to rival Wall Street’s charging bull and Trafalgar Square’s four bronze lions.
Chris Leaver says it was an honour for his entry to become such a tourist attraction and the unofficial mascot for the Awards.
“This type of artwork is a bit of a deviation for me. My art is usually more abstract, and I don’t tend to work to such a large scale. However, in entering the UWS competition, I used the landscape as my main influence,” says Mr Leaver.
“Rabbits are an introduced species. Having such a large version of what effectively looks like a garden ornament, sitting in this natural environment, raises all kinds of questions about our sense of place in our environments and our relationships with the land.”
Emilia and Lorenzo Lombardo, with Jimmy Rix's 'In the beginning'
Ms McMahon concurs that Chris Leaver’s sculpture is more than just a big bunny with what seemed a magical rabbit hole beside it.
“This work is essentially about empire and colonisation. Enmeshed with the contested discovery of Australia was the process of introducing the foreign to the indigenous, and the impact that this has upon the continent,” she says.
This connection between the UWS landscape and the imagery of a rabbit was first explored by Chris Leaver in his entry to the 2010 UWS Sculpture Awards.
Baroque Half-Pipe – one of 21 finalists in the 2010 competition – looked like a large green skate ramp with a small white rabbit at its centre, and was described as a playful questioning of the dualities of age and nature.
Antipodean Vision was one of 27 finalists in the 2012 UWS Sculpture Awards. The overall winner of the acquisitive prize was New Arrivals by Louisa Dawson – a one metre high diving board with a curved blue platform weighted down by a stone boulder.
Emilia and Lorenzo Lombardo, with Sue Robert's 'Listrumpet'
Other popular works in the Exhibition, which were in contention for the People’s Choice Award, were Jimmy Rix’s In the beginning and Sue Robert’s Listrumpet.
Monica McMahon says it was the interactive elements of these works of art that seemed to capture visitor’s votes.
“Jimmy Rix’s entry was a giant metal pencil sharpener, which everyone enjoyed climbing on and sliding into, while Sue Robert’s artwork had two conical forms or megaphones that carried a recorded echo whenever you walked close enough. People could often be found listening in, or shouting to each other from either end,” says Ms McMahon.
The winner of the $5,000 Landcom People’s Choice Award was announced at a special awards function at the Campbelltown Arts Centre on Wednesday 13th June 2012.
Ends
14 June 2012
View more photos of guests interacting with the UWS sculptures
Read the story in the Daily Telegraph, Macarthur Advertiser and Macarthur Chronicle
Photos: Alice King and Lien Lombardo
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