The Crossing

Mural created on the staircase leading into the Marget Court Arena in the Melbourne Olympic Park.

This was for the Australian Open Tennis Tournament being held in the venue

Collaboration between Nick Azidis & Rose Staff

https://ausopen.com/artist-community-engagement

Artist Statement:

Crossing a high staircase offers the opportunity to ponder views from a distance: to see connections between places at the ground level or ideas that are familiar, and to capture an overview of places or ideas that are yet to be explored. Each rise of a step holds one fraction of a larger image. When viewed at the base of the staircase, the individual elements join together to make the artwork as a whole.

This work is titled The Crossing and provides a physical artwork that you can walk upon, interact with and be surrounded by. This artwork is to be touched, to be climbed, to be photographed and to be felt. It is a staircase covered with vibrant and brightly coloured imagery inspired by the flowers of Australia’s exotic and unique natural flora in the wet tropics of Far Northern Queensland.

We are closely coming to the point of no return; crossing a climate threshold of a global temperature rise of 2°C above pre-industrial levels. At this point we will enter a feedback loop of global warming. Australia’s natural heritage is at great risk and we are already seeing the impacts of climate change.

Covid-19 shows that at the point of crisis which endangers many people’s lives it is possible to change human behaviour on a global scale. All around the world people have been disrupted from their usual work schedule to self isolate in order to stop the continued spread of the disease. During the Covid-19 shutdown people stopped flying, factories stopped polluting and the environmental benefits were highly visible. Waterways cleared and animals returned to places they had not been in significant numbers for decades due to human impact on the environment. It shows us that it is possible to change human behaviour when it is life threatening.