Public Art in Perth 3

Continuing the series about Public Art in the city of Perth, here are a few more statues scattered around the city centre.

Der Rufer (The Caller) - Perth Cultural Centre

Surrounded by the State Library of WA, WA Museum and Art Gallery of WA, and a stone's throw away from the Perth train station, is the what is know as "Perth Cultural Centre", bound by Roe, Beaufort, Francis and William Streets, is the statue of Der Rufer, cast in Berlin and sculpted by the German artist Gerhard Marcks in 1967.

It's believed to have been inspired when the artist stood beside a man who called across a river to attract the ferryman on the other side, and it is dedicated to the victims of torture.

There are a few more "Rufers" produced by the same artist, and one of them was erected in Berlin in 1989, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, where the "The Caller" is said to be calling for peace.

Bulb - Wetlands garden, Perth Cultural Centre

This filigree style metalwork now sitting by this ecological water garden was originally displayed at the Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe in 2010, by Perth artist Stuart Green.

Captain James Stirling - Foundation Park, behind  

Perth Town Hall, Barrack Street

The statue of Captain Stirling, who was the first Governor of Western Australia from 1829 until 1837, having established  the Swan River Colony, now known as Perth.
The statue was unveiled in 1979 and sculpted by Clement P. Somers.

Gate 2/ Coalesce - State Library of WA, Perth Cultural Centre

Japanese born Akio Makigawa created the "central gate" outside the library as a symbol of the meeting place, exchange of ideas and a passage for development.

Next to the gate the stepped structures symbolise the stages to knowledge and the totems represent marks of progress through the stages of development.

Inaugurated in 1987.

And today I finish this post with another super modern piece of art.

Totem - Perth Arena, 700 Wellington Street

Totem, also goes by the name of The Big Pineapple, Corn Cobb, Banksia Cone, but whatever you call it, this 10,5 mt high, 3.5 mt wide origami like structure is a talking point.

Situated just outside the Perth Arena, our entertainment centre which opened in December 2012.

Former IT specialist, Perth's Geoffrey Drake-Brockman, is the genius behind this piece of art that took 6 years to be put together. The 108 purple and yellow aluminium triangles have sensors that are programmed to open and close like flower petals in response to people talking nearby.

At night the Totem also shoots geometric laser projections onto the Arena's wall.

Perth Arena, seen from Central Park Building

Two of Geoffrey's other works have been shown at the Sculpture by the Sea in Cottesloe: 

the Walk-through counting machine in 2010, and the robotic Ballerina in 2014 both intertwining art and robotics.

Solar Jayne, 2014 

Sadly I didn't visit the Sculpture by the Sea in 2010, but I have visited every year since then and the photo of the above ballerina appeared in this post.