Pacific Star
1998
Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia.
Commissioned for the opening celebrations of the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre,
The work was created during a Pacific Artists Symposium held in New Caledonia.
The performance artwork reflects the new building in memory of Kanak leader, Jean-Marie Tjibaou.
The artwork was placed on sand in the estuary during low tide and floated on the incoming tide; its black glass floats clinking together, to arrive on the crowded beach at full tide, during the opening celebrations of the Cultural Centre.
Recycled from an earlier work, Mountain Reign, the circular, black-glass centre addressed the fragility of the relationship between the French and Kanak peoples.
The piano keys played on the name of Renzo Piano, the architect of the building, and the fourteen floating, carved and stained panels, allude to the importance of a balanced truce and a new beginning in Noumea. Pacific Star references medals awarded after the Second World War to soldiers for service in the Pacific.
Dimensions: 14 panels each Length 2200mm x Width 280mm x Height 25mm.
Materials: Salvaged kauri, acrylic paint, bronze, recycled cedar piano keys, and recycled black glass spheres.