“Skewered with light” is how some describe the Points of Intersection Sculpture. It is a striking piece of urban art right here in Sydney. Have you noticed the way it interacts with its surroundings?
The Points of Intersection Sculpture is a large-scale site-specific urban intervention. It was created by Australian multi-disciplinary artist Ian Strange. It was commissioned as part of the City of Sydney’s Art & About series. This series presents major public artworks in unusual spaces.
The sculpture was on display as part of the Art & About series in 2021. For a short time, Sydneysiders could encounter an impressive artistic intervention. It featured a heritage terrace spliced with light rays. This was while walking through Surry Hills.
Imagine a derelict Victorian terrace house. It stood on the corner of Marlborough and Devonshire Streets in Surry Hills. Now picture it skewered with dozens of customized LED rods. These light beams seemingly pierced the roof and façade. They penetrated the interiors with bright white light. It was as if volts from an unseen superpower were attempting to jolt the building back to life. That was the Points of Intersection Sculpture.
Strange uses light to draw our attention to the Victorian architecture. At the same time, he was emphasizing its dilapidated condition. He highlights the potential loss of built heritage.
Strange said that the lines of light in Points of Intersection Sculpture are an attempt to place abstracted perspective lines back into the environment. These drawn perspective lines don’t appear in nature. They are staples in painting, drawing, and architecture. They are used as a way of containing, representing, and changing the natural environment.
By placing these lines of light back into the landscape, Strange asks the viewer to consider the effect of the hand-drawn line on the landscape. Consider perspective lines and their relationship to art and architecture. Think about them as a way of both understanding, interpreting, and affecting landscape.
The idea of gesturing with light emerged in Strange’s 2013 artwork FINAL ACT. For that artwork Strange visited earthquake-devastated Christchurch. He worked with some of the 16000 suburban homes rendered uninhabitable by the disaster. Painting four of the homes entirely white inside and out he cut circular voids through their roofs and facades. Then he flooded them with white light becoming a symbolic way of remembering lives that had previously inhabited them.
Dusk was the best time to view or photograph the Points of Intersection Sculpture. Strange suggested dusk was likely to give the work a supernatural glow. However, it was interesting to view the installation throughout all the changing lights of day.
Points of Intersection Sculpture was designed to be seen from different perspectives. It was exciting that the work was in a high traffic location. People could photograph it themselves and interact with it. Once the artist makes it, the ways people engage with it becomes part of the work.
Realizing Points of Intersection Sculpture was a process of collaborating with architects and design team OFFICE. They modeled the terrace. They rebuilt the perspective lines into the building. Then they distorted them. Immaculately engineered steel frames supported the LED rods. None of them contacted the fabric of the building. The artist worked within heritage constraints. It was a really complicated process to make these light gestures feel really simple while maintaining the integrity of the structure.
For Points of Intersection Sculpture, Strange and his studio collaborated with OFFICE, long-time creative producer Jedda Andrews along with Scoundrel Projects. Strange considers himself as sitting between artist and director. His role is to create a framework. Then he works with talented creatives and technicians. This enables delivering a large project.
So next time you see an unusual use of light in art, think about Ian Strange. Remember his Points of Intersection Sculpture. Think about how artists can transform our understanding of space and heritage.