Western Australian Sites
Lake Ballard Management Plan
intro / overview / presentation / location
Landscape Architects: ECOSCAPE (Australia) Pty ltd
location: Lake Ballard Western Australia
Inside Australia is an installation of 51 blackened steel sculptures by the London-based artist, Antony Gormley, which populates the parched lake bed of Lake Ballard near Menzies in Western Australia’s Goldfields.
The sculptures were created from laser scans of the inhabitants of Menzies which were reduced to two thirds the original horizontal dimension while the vertical dimension remained true. Each sculpture was cast in an alloy containing elements found in Western Australia – molybdenum, vanadium and titanium.
The Installation is a site specific artwork that appropriates the landscape in which it stands.
Antony Gormley generously gifted this work to the State of Western Australia, in perpetuity. It provides an art icon that is a unique cultural pathway to experiencing the outback environment of Western Australia for many generations to come.
But the gift had strings attached. Gormley, through the Deed of Transfer retains the intellectual property of the sculptures, as well as, the right to approve or disapprove any changes to the landscape in which they sit.
Stakeholders reported that he had objections to the Installation becoming part of any other tourism agenda of the State or in there being a profit made as a result of the Installation.
In short, it is an art icon that was created through the generous support of the local community with restrictions placed on the ability for the local community to prosper as a result of the Installation. Without the ability to promote the Installation as a tourist destination or to provide a sustainable income flow, the many stakeholders responsible for the management of the Installation to which visitors are naturally drawn are left with unsustainable art icon.
In 2008, a Master Development Plan (Hammond) was created with Gormley’s hard won support. In this Plan, it was stated that a comprehensive Management Plan was urgently required. The Shire of Menzies established a Steering Committee and engaged Ecoscape to produce the plan.
The purpose of the Management Plan was to establish of a best practice model of governance and funding; protect of the natural and Indigenous cultural values of Lake Ballard; protect and maintain the Installation (sculptures and landscape) as required by artist; maintain the Reserve and its infrastructure; and promote tourism.
intro / overview / presentation / location
2010
