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December 2024 Case Study
In an extraordinary piece of co-ordination and inclusion, Perth artists Simon Gauntlett and Matthew Ngui collaborated to collect over 200,000 signatures from registered Western Australian school children in 1999. From kindergarten to year 12, and whether schooled in Perth, 4,000km north in Wyndham, online or at the kitchen table, every student was invited to submit a signature, with the entirety etched individually into the 2,375 tiles that make up this unique artwork.
A Millennium celebration of the future
The Signature Ring is a copper artwork, made in the form of a headphone set and installed at the Barrack Street Jetty, in Elizabeth Quay, Perth. Copper tiles carry the signatures, grouped by school so that generations of Western Australians can experience the joy of seeking out their contribution to a public art masterpiece, or their relatives’ special mark. The Artists’ message to celebrate the Millennium in WA was to stress the importance of youth to the future.
Day and Night Enjoyment
Originally installed in 2015, it was only recently that funding was found to enhance the night-time presence of the Signature Ring by adding complementary lighting. Local ERCO Channel Partner Lighting Options Australia recommended ERCO Tesis in-ground luminaires for the task: adding a soft glow to the artwork, allowing even the delicate signatures to be read or felt, without competing with the creative presence. Newly available in delicate size 2, Tesis is a resilient in-ground luminaire that illuminates without glare, even when viewed from directly above. This was key to this project, as the audience is naturally drawn to interact with the Ring at very close quarters.
The objective of lighting the Signature Ring was two-fold: to enhance the visibility and presence of the artwork from a distance, with emphasis on the shape and the materials, and to allow good on-surface light for the detail to be discerned. The results speak for themselves: in Perth’s enviable outdoor climate, this public attraction now draws viewers well into the long summer evenings. And no doubt the grandchildren of the future will still be rubbing their fingers along grandparents’ childhood marks well into the latter half of the century.
Lighting Options Australia is a solutions-driven commercial and architectural lighting specialist, and represents the ERCO brand in Western Australia.
The Signature Ring is a collaborative art effort by these two Perth-based artists. More than 200,000 school student signatures were collected and embossed onto tiles that comprise the headphone shape structure. It is installed near the Bell Tower, developed at Elizabeth Quay as part of the Millennium celebrations.
Technical Services Group is a Perth-based specialits in public event technology.
Find out more about products used here:
Channel Partner: Lighting Options Australia
Lighting: Lighting Options Australia
Artists: Simon Gauntlett and Matthew Ngui
Photographer: Darren Stevenson @dazzman10
Supported by: the Rotary Club of Perth , Lotterywest and City Of Perth
Contractor/installer: Technical Services Group