'Inside Australia' Installation on Lake Ballard, Western Australia

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As most of my friends seemed to enjoy the Field of Light post, I thought I'd share photos of another installation which was set up in 2009 just out the small town of Menzies. This bizarre installation was called 'Inside Australia' and is situated on Lake Ballard, a salt lake some 50 kms from Menzies. Under the fierce sun, heatwaves shimmer and bounce on this most remote of 'art galleries'. A conical hill rises out of the middle of the 10 square kilometre salt pan. It is an important breeding ground for the banded stilt whenever there are heavy rains. The white, crackling salt is interspersed at intervals by strange, stick-like figures. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival, British sculptor Antony Gormley was asked to create 'something different' for the Festival. Using a mathematical process, he scanned, by laser, the nude bodies of 51 people. Some were volunteers, others were approached by Gormley and asked to take part. The bodies were mapped in three dimensions. Cross sections were taken, reduced by two thirds and the contours connected, leaving an inner core. This was used to create a sculpture. The figures are full-size, revealing attitudes and emotions in an abstract shape. They stand stark and tense against the whiteness of the lake. The figures appear to advance and recede with the heat waves. They are not near each other and the overall effect is eerie and alien. Just as the Eiffel Tower was to have been removed, so too were the figures meant to be taken away. Such was their attraction that they have been left on the lake to enthrall and bemuse locals and tourists alike. This first appeared on Bubblews and has been edited slightly.