Here Beneath / Suspended Above

Digital colour print paste-up, at Mechanics Lane, Castlemaine

This paste-up contains two riddles that describe an aspect of our relationship with our environment: one unique to Castlemaine; and one that echoes a more universal experience. When viewed from the street, a jumble of letters are suspended within a blue and red pattern; creating a vibrant sign that needs decoding to discover its hidden messages. In this way, it is inspired by the palimpsest of place: the layers of history and meaning that places hold, that are often difficult to decipher.

The riddles of Here Beneath / Suspended Above can be read during daylight hours by using the blue and red filters provided in the Library Foyer: by holding each up in front of your eyes whilst viewing the work. When viewed through each colour filter the words and text change, as the filters reveal and conceal different parts of the work. This optical illusion works by playing with the properties of light, and the way our eyes perceive colour.

Riddle as viewed through the blue filter;
Suspended above,
Just beyond reach
Sculpted through space and time
By the sun, the mist, and you

and the red filter:
Here beneath,
An ancient seas sleeps
Blanketed in ribbons of stone
Making dreams with its reef