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Domepiece

Location: Domed Reading Room, State Library of Victoria   (September 17 & 18, 1993)

Event: Metrodome- A Surface to Air Event, Melbourne Festival

The stimulus for creating this work came from studying in the domed reading room one afternoon and being distracted by the sound of trolleys being pushed around one of the metal corridors above. As a student, I can also remember the sound of the gong that was rung when the library was closing. Despite it's original purpose as a silent reading room, the dome is subject to  a complexity of sounds, many of which find their origin in the daily routine of the library. Working with these sounds and the manner in which they conform to the circular shape of the room forms one part of this work.  Another section attempts to grapple with the inert energy of the place and its objects, the broad flux of information and ideas contained in the books that are otherwise dormant. On the surface, the careful arrangement of books in this room as well as its beautiful symmetry point to an endless pursuit of creating order out of the chaos of human knowledge and initiative, and in a sense it is both sanctuary from, and testament to, the world outside.

 

The first section of Domepiece. It begins with sound of trolleys circling the dome on the metal corridors.