A large collaborative artwork drawing together more than 200 artists will be unveiled in Footscray next month.
Geonaut features a series of panels painted by community groups from Footscray to Melton, in collaboration with designer and director Adam Douglass.
Douglass worked on a similar project in New Zealand five years ago. “It’s about making an artistic project that has positive social benefits, making links with a community for social outsiders,” he said.
The multi-panelled geodesic dome is an immersive artistic experience, reflecting the “social consciousness” of its creators. “We’ve had a huge range of people working together then you walk inside this collective consciousness,” Douglass said.
“My job is to make sure it’s working as a whole. It would be good for people to be able to stand back and see the cohesion of it, but also to be engaged in the hundreds of different stories happening within it.
“You’ve got this huge range of emotional states and qualities and belief systems and we’re trying to capture that in a non-judgemental way.”
Geonaut is being produced for the 2013 Big West Festival by Barkly Arts Centre. Its program co-ordinator, Liss Gabb, said: “There will be so much enjoyment from just being in this space when it’s finished. It will be an unusual, contemplative experience.”
Geonaut will be in Nicholson Street Mall, 8am-8pm from November 28 to December 1.
