maintenance scaffold becomes art installation for MCA australia

mike hewson and agatha gothe-snape, ‘IT XXXXX XX’, 2013
digital print on adhesive vinyl shrouding scaffolding structure
museum of contemporary art australia, the rocks, sydney
all images courtesy and © the artists

new zealand artist mike hewson and australian artist agatha gothe-snape transformed the facade of the museum of contemporary art australia into a temporary large-scale art installation. while undergoing a cleaning process, the museum’s otherwise prominent exterior was cloaked beneath rows of maintenance scaffolding. the creative duo concealed the construction, using it instead as the framework for their canvas. the piece was built letter-by-letter and word-by-word, sequentially unfolding throughout an 89-day, five stage period. both the assembly and disassembly became important facets of the composition, the words and letters revealing different meanings depending on the stage of development in which it was seen. the huge transparent type forms spell out the phrase ‘it holds up’ which refers to a sense of durability and the installations own medium– the scaffold structure that supports it.

an installation view of the finalized piece on the facade of MCA australia at night

visitors look at the piece during its development

a team installs the 6 story high letters onto the facade of the building

a detail of the scaffold , and the artwork being fitted ontop

letterforms were digitally printed onto the surface of the covering

a detail of the word ‘holds’

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