T Projects Curator Olivia Poloni talks to artists James Voller about his recent commission for the Ferguson Street level crossing removal.
Olivia: Can you begin by describing how you came to be selected for this commission and describe the work that you have developed for the project?
James: I was invited to apply for this commission by Victoria Jones of T Projects. It was a really intensive shortlisting process, after which I designed an artwork that embedded photographic images into the architectural fabric of the rail infrastructure. This sort of imagery was to document a historical train engine housed in the nearby Newport Railway Museum as a way to connect the surrounding community with the work.
Olivia: Was this the first time that you worked with a design team to create an artwork? Can you tell us a little bit more about this aspect of the project?
James: Although this was not my first time working with a design team it was by far one of the most involved and intensive projects I have worked on to date. Working closely alongside Victoria, we had to navigate the engineering, architectural, and design teams, which can lead to some miscommunication, but we continuously worked hard to ensure that our core concept was always at the front of mind.
Olivia: As the artwork was developed during the pandemic can you talk a little bit about how this impacted the project and how you overcame any challenges this brought about?
James: This is the first project I have participated in where the first meeting right along to the fabrication stage had 95% of the work being done via zoom. We had a major challenge of creating a public artwork when we were in a time where there was no access to public spaces, so visualising the materiality and interaction the public would (or wouldn't) have with the space was difficult.
It was extremely vital to be working with Ben Lamason of Matter Visuals, in New Zealand, to be able to create high-end renders of our work to help us navigate these issues.
Olivia: You worked with a specialist supplier to create the artwork; can you tell us more about this process?
James: We worked with Metrix who specialise in high-end architectural cladding - one process they work with is called ‘Picperf’, which is perforated aluminium sheets with varying hole sizes to create the photographic imagery. I spent a lot of time working very closely with their Design Lead to translate these high-resolution digital photographs into dot images for this process. This process of translating high-end technical drawings into architectural materials is the cornerstone of my business and was one of the most interesting and challenging parts of the process.
Olivia: Have you enjoyed this commission?
James: There were so many parties involved in this process and without their expertise and guidance from the Curator Victoria Jones, the project would have been much harder to achieve. However, stepping back and seeing my work at such a scale, which will be there for decades, is absolutely amazing to me and it was great to be able to create an artwork that explores the history and community for Williamstown.
Olivia: What would you say are your lessons learned from this project?
James: I think, as an artist, sticking to your guns and pushing on your original concepts is integral to this kind of public art. There were so many different technical languages I had to learn in order to be able to translate that art into something more architectural, and absolutely the ability to be flexible, creating during a pandemic.