Pentaflora
Harrisdale, Western Australia.
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Client: Cedar Woods Properties Limited
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Stakeholders and partners: Creating Communities, City of Armadale, Blackwell & Associates
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Role of Artsource: Art Consultant
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Artists: Peter Knight
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Outcome: Three public artworks developed through community consultation
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Artwork budget: $50,000
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Completion date: 2012
The Harrisdale Green housing development is an example of how public art can enhance and diversify new residential areas and reflect community members’ cultural sensibility and identity. In developing his artistic response, artist Peter Knight conducted considerable community consultation and philosophical research. Knight ran community workshops with lot owners and prospective residents, predominantly from Asia and India and referenced eastern philosophy, the natural environment and symbolism into a solid design.
Knight’s choice of materials is a conscious extension of his artwork practice; with Corten steel, jarrah and aluminium being both durable and referencing the estate’s previous semi-rural use. Known collectively as Pentaflora, the three forms reference leaves, minarets, spires and petals and seek a harmonious link of material and form. To make the work more accessible to community residents, Knight worked on a human scale, with the three works varying in proportion.
Knight has worked with the landscape architect to ensure the harmonious placement of the Pentaflora artworks into the landscape of the residential estate. The final placement of the works was influenced by the presence of shade, possibility for discovery and engagement by viewers and their spatial relevance both within the estate and the parkland. They are designed to be viewed as a group or as single objects of discovery for the residents.
