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Abstract
Electrical and electronic technologies have a long history and relationship to the development of public art projects. In this field where a much greater emphasis surrounds more environmental endeavors, the challenge has been to reinvigorate degraded sites while adhering to ecologically progressive construction practices.
The artwork Weather Cranes by Alan Giddy responded to intersecting concerns from the areas of heritage (preservation), site (conservation) and place making (reanimation) - such constricting and sometimes contradictory pressures being indicative of public art making in the 21st century. The response was to create a work of art by using and changing an existing object (adjusted readymade) without any physical impact on the object. To achieve an efficient yet dynamic result required the co-opting of high efficiency sensing and lighting systems.
This artwork successfully fuses contemporary electronic technologies with public art making in an attempt to create a high impact installation with a small energy footprint. This work was commissioned for the collection of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Parramatta Riverside and has been on permanent exhibition since March 2007.