OPTIC GARDEN
The Optic Garden functions as a sculpture on a traffic island celebrating
the 2010 World Cup and marking one of the major routes to the inner-city
match venues.
The project was commission by the Johannesburg Development Agency as
part of a citywide public art programme in the lead-up to the 2010 World
Cup. The standard chevron sign is used as ‘drawing material’
with 195 signs ‘planted’ to form an optic mass measuring
30m x 6m in plan. Red and white patterning associated with the traffic
signs is adapted to outline an iconic image, visible from the exact
point of perspective of a driver approaching Johannesburg. As one rounds
a bend in the approach road, the field of signs converges and aligns
to reveal the outlines of a soccer playing field. Upon passing, the
image fragments back into the individual signs - alluding to the temporary
nature of sports events and their potential to bring people together.
At night the lights of approaching cars and taxis highlight and animate
the reflective surfaces effectively doing away with the need for additional
artificial lighting.
Carried out in collaboration with artist Maja Marx
Project team: Anne Graupner, Thorsten Deckler, Stephen Reid, Carl Jacobs,
Sue Groenewald
Featured in Architecture South Africa May/ June 2009
Photographed by John Hodgkiss
Video by Hugh Fraser
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