About This Project

The Smith & Co. Art Screens by artist Daniel Agdag celebrate the manufacturing history of Collingwood’s retail, clothing, wool mills, hosiery and drapery with also a nod to the distinctive typography that adorned the buildings of the area.

The series of five laser-cut, perforated screens resemble the dot screens that make up images on a billposter, celebrate and reflect the dynamic past of Collingwood, while employing a technique that reflects the present.

The image is digitized and cut in a way that appears abstracted up close (for the residents who interact with the work on a micro scale) and where the complete image is revealed upon viewing from a distance (where the public interact on the macro scale.)

The images represent a series of cardboard sculptural cogs and pulleys that draw inspiration from knitting and weaving machinery which were photographed and digitised for use on the screens as well as the utilisation of imagery from Foy and Gibson’s famed trellised verandah and Coles’ former façade.

Fabricated from anodized alluminium, the monochromatic palette is a considered decision by Agdag to bring a quiet elegance to the busy and eclectic environment of Smith St, Collingwood.

At night time the screens take on a different aesthetic where the images appear darkened and the light cast from the apartments located behind the screens pass through the perforations and appear as randomly backlit screens creating a subtle twinkling effect.

Photography by David Simmonds