Timeflows

Artists: Michael Cohen, Chris Fox, Shay Tobin
Location: Blacktown International Sports Park
Art text: Shay Tobin
Medium: Power-coated steel, concrete
Videographer: Dayvis Heyne

Timeflows considers this part of Ngurra (Dharug Country) in terms of durational landform change and long-term inhabitation by First Nations people. This inhabitation in the local area, in the neighbouring Cumberland Plain, and in the Sydney Basin more broadly, has continued for such a ‘deep time’ period that it is hard for a single human to grasp.

Dharug people considered the ancient uplift of the Lapstone Structural Complex as the staircase from the plains to the mountains. Stone tool artefacts that date back up to 47,000 years have been found just thirty kilometres from here at Cranebrook Terrace. How do we consider the emergence of the ancient nearby Angus Creek, with the creation of local pathways, motorways and homes in the same breath?

The answer, it seems, lies at our feet. Layers of sedimentation, like chronological contours, can tell a multitude of stories about the flows of time. For this artwork we brought together geological and topographic data sets from this area. Through computational modelling we generated the looming forms that appear to emerge from the earth. Passing beneath them, you will see that each form speaks to a different era. Yet each reflects the continuity of Ngurra, and of Dharug people.

Thanks to: Erica Barlow, CABAH (A/Prof. Tim Cohen and Dr Shane Ingrey), City People, FORGE, Chris and Leanne Tobin, Studio Chris Fox and Urban Steel.

Watch video here

Chris Fox is an artist, academic and founder of Studio Chris Fox (SCF), a multi-disciplinary design studio which aims to transform the built environment by bridging the disciplines of art, architecture and engineering. SCF utilises an innovative computational workflow to drive future-making strategies and create structures that push the boundaries of what seems physically possible, whilst telling meaningful stories of place and people through time.

His studio’s landmark public commissions working across the City of Sydney include Interchange Pavilion (2020), Interloop (2017) and Rozelle Interchange (2023). Chris is a member of AKIN, the competition award-winning design team for Sydney’s Barangaroo Harbour Park, due for completion in 2027.

Dr Michael Cohen is the director and lead consultant with City People. He has an extensive practice as an artist and curator for public art programs and installations in the public domain. With City People Michael works in multiple capacities: as a curator, strategist, creative producer and artist. By speaking the language of artists, communities and government, City People shifts how people feel about places through arts and culture.

City People’s team bring over 50 years in combined experience as practicing artists, placemaking creative producers and arts strategists for governments. With a background as a touring performing artist, in recent years Michael has also worked in installation and public art. For many years he was Creative Producer at Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and was also a prominent contributor as an artist and convenor at Bundanon Trust, one of Australia’s leading regional contemporary arts venues.

Shay Tobin lives as an artist and student whose motivation for mathematics through environment and nature merges with his inspiration towards his art. Growing up as a member of the Boorooberongal clan of the Dharug Nation of western Sydney, in a family of artists, his art practice is influenced in subtle ways by the connection to land, family and what it means to be living in Australia today. Shay has acquired a deep fascination for mathematics and together with a lifelong passion for the natural world, is motivated to pursue a life as an artist and mathematician.

This project is supported by Blacktown City Council and NSW Department of Planning and Environment