Orbiculum

One of three works commissioned by Experimenta, Orbiculum was part of House of Tomorrow, 30 international works curated by Liz Hughes, Shiralee Saul and Helen Stuckey. Attracting some 47000 in Melbourne (Black Box Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre) it toured major Australian galleries: Artspace, Adelaide: Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; WA Maritime Museum; Bendigo, Warrnambool and Gippsland Art Galleries and Mildura Arts Centre. Orbiculum is a kinetic, interactive sculpture where users can manipulate and view a responsive 3D virtual environment. 'In this nostalgic recreation of the archetypal Australian backyard, Lycette Bros. speculate on the fate of the suburban dream. Constructed from machine parts and electronic components, Orbiculum takes the form of a strange ornamental device. Orbiculum sits within the Cyberpunk and Gothic realm of art that has seen a resurgence of interest around technology fetishists and the like. It harks back to the work of Giger and contemporaries such as Chris Conte and Stephane Halleux. The utilisation of junk collage and sculpture combined with techno intrigue and Steam Punk obsession. This work expresses the continuing interest of the artists with these subjects - merging a physical object with the virtual. While based in an established genre its innovation fall into the developing scene of such themed artists in Australia. No matter how technologically advanced we are, there is little to distinguish us from the many that have come before. Every period - including the future - will reassess, analyse and classify the times preceding with responses ranging from condemnation to nostalgia. How will the (already threatened) great Australian dream of a home on a quarter acre block, surrounded by a paling fence be seen in the future? As a humourous, kitsch even folksy object to be mocked or a nostalgic symbol of freedom and private space long removed and regretted by those in the future?