| Date Unveiled: | 15 October 2016 |
| Unveiled by: | Sarah Tipping, Chairman of YVG Board and Sculptor Damian Vick (YOG 1998) |
| Principal: | Dr Mark Merry |
To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the School 1966-2016.
Damien Vick loved Art at Yarra Valley Grammar School. He started his Art career in 2D, but lucky for us he always wanted to try 3D and so when asked, he came up with this amazing design of The Visionary. It stands 5m tall - imagine having to transport that from his studio to this point. It is made with weathering steel known as Corten steel. Except the ‘Heart’ which will never fade or go brown, always staying bright. The heart of the school maybe?
The Visionary can represent anything you want it to, it looks up to the sky like the School motto (Levavi Oculous - I lift up my eyes). What is the Visionary seeing, do you think? Maybe dreaming of the endless possibilities of what the future will bring and the part that we all can play in it. Where will your future take you?
Yarra Valley Grammar approached Yarra Old Grammarian Damian Vick (YOG 1998) in June 2016 to discuss the development of an artwork to commemorate the School's 50th Anniversary. With an open brief, Damian prepared, explored and presented various directions and concepts that aimed to encapsulate the nature of Yarra, its people, its philosophy, its spirit and its direction. In consultation with Dr Mark Merry, a single vision was settled on; a figure, a dreamer, a visionary.
While a school is comprised of many elements, its focus is essentially its students and this is what needed to be captured in the work. School is a time where we mature, grow and prepare ourselves for life as an adult. It provides us with information and experiences that inspire the mind and guides our trajectory into the world beyond. It is a place in which we can develop our dreams and then equip ourselves for the challenge of making those dreams come true. It is these ideas, along with a reference to the School Motto (Levavi Oculous – I lift up my eyes) that determined the scale and pose that the sculpture would take; an aspirational visionary, looking skyward, pondering and projecting its future.
The Visionary stands 5 metres tall (excluding the plinth), and weighs in at approximately 900kg. Due to the environment, its weight and height, it is mounted on a plinth that contains 6 cubic meters of concrete which extends 2 meters underground. It is supported by an internal framework of galvanised steel, over which were positioned the various fragments that give the work its form. These fragments are all made with weathering steel (commonly known as Corten steel), with one exception; a single fragment in the chest, which is made from aluminium. Weathering steel is an alloy that was developed in the 1930's and has the unique characteristic of oxidising in such a way that it forms a protective barrier inhibiting deeper degradation of the steel. As the steel approaches maturity the sculpture will take on a deep purple/brown colour, contrasting dramatically with the aluminium "heart" section, which will retain its bright silver appearance.
The aim was to build a sculpture that was aspirational, yet universally relatable, an outcome achieved by stripping away all the distinguishing features, leaving an androgynous, youthful figure. The pose is that of a young person in quiet contemplation, looking beyond the horizon and into the clouds, indulging in their imagination as they ponder the world and their place in it.
The Visionary has become a central meeting point for staff, students and visitors as it sits atop the main walkway to the Patterson Oval.
The process for developing this sculpture had its fair share of experimentation and challenge. The first task was to get the pose of the figure correct. To achieve this a 3D model was developed and a lot of anatomical drawings and photographs were studied until Damian felt he had the base gesture right. From that point, he ran the 3D model through various programs and processes in order to simplify it to a point where it was abstracted, but without making it so jagged that it lost the impression of natural curvature. In conjunction with this process, he was keenly aware that the sculpture would need an internal structure, so as he refined and tweaked the figure into its final shape, he had to ensure that an appropriately solid frame could fit inside the form. After a great number of amendments he finally massaged the form into its final arrangement.
Once this was completed, Damian finalised the design of the frame and submitted his plans to an engineer to design the footing. This was however, where the tricky work began. At this point he had to look at each segment and work out how it would be put together; working out where each segment would intersect with the frame, which faces could be cut from a single sheet and folded into position, which ones would need to be welded, how each segment would be attached to the frame and in what order etc. These considerations were made as he 'unfolded' the 3D model, labelling each face with a code and annotating the angles between them for folding and assembly. In order to fold the parts himself, Damian had perforations cut along the fold lines of the larger segments and then made a small pan brake to fold them. For smaller folds (less than 600mm) he used a pneumatic shop press and some tooling (essentially a large hydraulic ram that pushes a 'v' shaped bar down onto the workpiece that had a matching 'v' shaped groove underneath it). So armed with his notes and a digital protractor, Damian began folding all the segments into their destined arrangements whilst his assistant took the plans for the frame and began welding it together.
The highest point in Damian's studio is just over 4m high, so building a 5 m tall sculpture was always going to be tricky! He decided to build as much of the frame as he could and stood it upright, welding it to a heavy (12mm thick) base plate. He then began at the feet and worked his way up, wrapping the parts of each segment around the frame, checking its position with the 3D model, then welding and sanding it before moving onto the next part. It took around 10 days for Damian's team to reach the chest...and the roof! With great care, a block and tackle and some ratchet straps, they tilted the figure (which weighed around 700kg at this stage) and gently lowered it to the ground, allowing them to complete the arms, shoulders and head. After inspecting the work and making some final touch ups, it was time for installation.
The Visionary in Transit and Being Installed:
On Thursday 13 October The Visionary made the trip from Damian's studio to Yarra to find its final resting place. At approximately 5 metres tall this was no easy task! As the work was now close to a tonne in weight and was welded together into a single object, a crane truck was needed to transport it. Once at the School it was carefully positioned on the plinth with holes in the base plate aligning perfectly with steel anchors that had been Chemset into the concrete days earlier. The nuts were tightened up to lock it into position and then were welded closed so that it could not move over time.
To achieve a natural and desirable rust finish, the work was simply wiped down with a solvent and left for nature to take its course.
The Visionary on Yarra's 50th Community Festival Day 2016:
On Saturday 15 October 2016 The Visionary was officially unveiled at Yarra's 50th Community Festival. Yarra Valley Grammar Chairman, Sarah Tipping helped Damian Vick (YOG 1998) to unveil The Visionaryin commemoration of the School's 50th Anniversary. Later that night The Visionary had one of the best views of the celebratory fireworks!
The Visionary has become a central meeting point for students, staff and visitors as it sits atop the main walkway to the Patterson Oval.
