Take it or leave it

Jurek Wybraniec and Stephen Neille

Title: Take it or leave it

Artist/s: Jurek Wybraniec and Stephen Neille

Year: 2007

Category: Integrated Artwork

Site: Perth Underground

Location Details:  Underground Concourse Level Wall

Description:

Coloured sandstone panels are built into the side wall cladding of the underground station’s concourse level, and stream-of-consciousness words relating to the themes of time and motion are sand-blasted into the surface of the sandstone.

Artists’ statement:

The work defines a distinctive space, suggestive of a sublime landscape below the ground – a super-room to travel. The work is scaled to engage passenger experience, both at distance and close up. It resounds with multiple readings – slow and fast, close and distant. Word pictures can be constructed personally and socially, instructions beckon performance – it can be read on the way or simply stop you in your tracks. The geometry, content and materiality of the work intertwine with architectural space and order to promote identity and poetic ambience. It sets the concourse in place, creating a sense of familiarity within the frantic pace of daily life. Word pictures and instructions bring into play an evocative time-and-motion language that has been drawn from underlying concepts of public travel and interconnectivity. The entire work invites one to investigate further. Its surface invites us to explore beyond the immediate, inviting us to meander through and reflect upon the meanings presented.