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Walk by the Water, Admire the Art

Author - Danielle Butler

Wednesday, 11 October 2017

 

Geelong Waterfront is renowned for its beautiful walk along the promenade, the stunning view across Corio Bay, the iconic carousel and even the old favourite of Poppy Kettle playground. If you’re like me and have lived in the area your entire life, you too are probably guilty of walking past these incredible works of art without truly appreciating the story behind each one.

First up, the Cargo Boxes - If you find yourself dining or drinking at Edge bar, do yourself a favour and walk out to Customs Park next door and take a closer look at what lies around. The peculiar looking crates that are nestled under the trees are actually art pieces created by artists Maggie Fookes and Bill Perrin. When you take a closer look at each one you will see that they all hold a different item that is intended to tell a story of each vessel that arrived to Geelong in the early settlement. Fruit, rabbits, vegetables and shackled feet, each represent the rich history of what came to Geelong all those years ago. These are especially impressive during the night when the Cargo Boxes are lit.

Geelong art cargo box

Next, the Barcode Fountain – after your history lesson at the Cargo Boxes, walk across the grass to check out the fountain - repeated barcodes under the long strip of water. This barcode belonged to an iconic Geelong product, Noddy’s soft drink. The design creates a waterfall effect as the panels terrace towards the beach, allowing the water to peacefully trickle down. Also worth a look at night time as it features blue strip lights that really bring it to life.

Barcode fountain Geelong

Cross the road and find yourself at North. Erect at the end of Moorabool Street, there are 7 towering sculptures. Some say they resemble shark fins and that the ground is the water they would be peering out of, others say they’re a crew of ships and they’re sails standing tall. You can interpret it as you like. At up to 3m high you and with completely different frames they make a fun and interchanging sculpture when moving in and around (and a great game of peek-a-boo).

North sculpture Geelong

Walk towards The Carousel and you’ll see the Paving Splats. Created as a way to break up the pavement areas these splatters of art subtly add a bit of fun to the an otherwise dull ground. Formed as pavement inlays each splatter depicts an imported or locally made object. Artists Maggie Fookes and Bill Perrin (who created the Cargo Boxes) are also behind these splats.

Geelong waterfront splats