About This Project

‘The Inspector’ is the artist’s tribute to the Yarra River’s industrial past and its role in building the City of Melbourne. It takes visual cues from the river’s history and these artefacts inform the many intricate components of the work. The piece comprises ‘The Rail Bridge’, with ‘The Contraption’ sitting on top, to be fabricated from weathering steel.

The cross-section of Rail Bridge takes influence from the Victoria Street Bridge and its ornamental gantries. The viewer looks up at The Contraption, as one might do a passing tram whilst journeying along the paths of The Yarra. Referencing history whilst not being steeped in it, my imagining of The Contraption juxtaposes the industrial with the playful; it has a deliberate whimsy forged by delicate, exaggerated and otherworldly forms.

The nature of the weathering steel forms a film of superficial rust over time to arrive at a sepia hue that is synonymous with my sculptural works. Agdag toils away in his tiny studio in Melbourne’s South Yarra creating intricate meticulous industrial machines of his own imagination from the unassuming medium of cardboard. A master of the material, this work represents an exciting venture for the artists who will make his first large scale steel sculpture for Eden.

Video courtesy of HAMTON

Photography by Fiona Hamilton