Commissioned by VicUrban and Walker Corporation, the works form part of the Wyndham City Council collection.

Art Consultant and Project Manager: Global Art Projects. 

 

Circular (2010) is a public art project by typographer Stephen Banham from Letterbox and artist Christine Eid from TOW located in Point Cook, a suburb located in the Western growth corridor of Melbourne.

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Circular is a series of eight cast-iron works installed along the footpath of Main Street, Point Cook. Quietly integrated into the streetscape, the works playfully take the familiar form of manhole covers while referencing the stories, values and diversity of the Point Cook area.

 

Stephen and Christine undertook an active community engagement process to develop the work involving discussions with many local individuals and organisations ranging from the local historical society, RAAF Museum, local schools and Indigenous groups. 

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Rather than being simply a fact-finding mission on the way to developing the artwork, community engagement is the important process of listening, preserving and celebrating people's stories. It also includes feeding these stories back to the community after the artwork is installed. 

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The project is entitled Circular - not only a reference to the round format of the cast iron plate works (resembling man-hole covers) but also to the notion of the 'community circular' meaning a method of circulating information through a community. This reinforces the essential storytelling aspects of the project.

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The resulting artworks were installed at six key locations along Main Street, Point Cook.  The works seek to enliven the public space and enhance the pedestrian’s everyday journey. They engage pedestrians and seek to inspire and encourage public curiosity about the local environment and community. You can even make rubbings of them.

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circularprojects.com