Marcus Canning & Christian de Vietri

Ascalon - black granite, polished stainless steel, powder-coated aluminium and lighting

Artists' Comment on the Design:

''Ascalon' seeks to create a space of contemplation, exhilaration and inspiration. It distils the essence of St George mythology in a contemporary, abstracted rendition that is hopefully timeless in its relevance, evoking the greater archetypal truths that permeate from his story and how these truths pertain to the individual and to society, now and for centuries to come.

In the Medieval Romances, 'Ascalon' is the name given to the lance used by St George to slay the dragon. Here, the lance is rendered as a monumental chrome tube that emits a single beam of light into the heavens at night, set into a faceted landscape of polished black granite. This abstracted representation of the slain body of the dragon has a crack running along its axis. This emanates from the point where the lance has entered the black mass, and at night, light shines up through the crack, illuminating the luminous white form suspended above it.

This white billow wraps and warps in a single undulating plane around the lance. It is cast in aluminium and powder coated white, and evokes an ethereal lightness alongside its elemental power. The billow references the billowing cloak that features in many depictions of St George across Western art history as surrogate angel's wings, and aims to evoke a sense of righteous power and victory over a force of darkness and oppression.

The form of 'Ascalon' has been developed and modelled in a digital environment in collaboration with New York-based architect Eldad Lev, allowing for a seamless 'press play' transition to foundry and stonemason fabrication using the latest in 3D fabrication and digitally controlled sculpting machinery.

Perth-based structural engineering firm Capital House, who were behind the Kings Park Suspension Bridge, are the project managers of the 'Ascalon' fabrication and site build, and they have, amongst other things, designed a customised dampening system to tune the form to the specific wind conditions of the site.

Profile of the Artists:

Marcus Canning and Christian de Vietri received their first art schooling in Perth, Christian at Curtin University of Technology, Marcus at the UWA School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Fine Arts.

They first collaborated in 2001 when Marcus curated Christian's work '(in)security' as part of Tactical Intervention Strategies (T.I.S) at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. It was a work that required 50 uniformed security guards to attend the opening of the exhibition. Christian thought of the idea, and Marcus hired the guards.

Since then, both artists have exhibited in the annual national survey of rising talent, Primavera, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, and around the world across various media including video, projection, installation, event and conceptual works alongside consistent sculptural practice.

Christian de Vietri is currently based in New York. He has been working independently as an artist since 2000 and has exhibited his work internationally.

His works came to prominence during the National Sculpture Prize at the National Gallery of Australia (2005), and many are now held in major collections around the country.

Other recent exhibitions have been held at Goddard de Fiddes Gallery (2005, 2006, 2007), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney (2006), the TarraWarra Museum of Art (2007), the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane (2008) and the Art Gallery of Western Australia (2009).

In 2003, Christian received the Western Australian Citizen of the Year Award for his contribution to the Arts. He has also received the Qantas Spirit of Youth Award (2004), the Nescafe Big Break (2004), the People's Choice Award for the National Sculpture Prize (2005), the Art and Australia Magazine Emerging Artist Award (2006) and the Columbia University School of Fine Arts Merit Scholarship (2007, 2008, 2009).

Marcus Canning's art practice has run parallel for the last decade with his professional appointments as a producer, director, curator, manager and designer of various cultural programmes and enterprises.

His most recent exhibitions include work at Goddard de Fiddes Gallery in Perth (2009), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (2008), Arco Art Fair in Madrid (2008), Linden Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne (2008), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney (2008) and YBCA Galleries in San Francisco (2007).

Marcus has been executive director of ARTRAGE Inc. since 2002. He sat on the Australia Council's New Media Arts Board (2002-05), chaired the federal DCITA Festivals Australia Committee (2002-07) and was awarded the City of Perth Award at the WA Business News 40 under 40 Awards 2006 for contribution to the culture of Perth.

Back to submissions