In collaboration with Australian artist James Angus, mouldCAM has produced one of five unique sculptures for Melbourne’s new EastLink freeway.
The "Ellipsoidal Freeway Sculpture" comprises 24 green, blue and white coloured modular ellipsoids varying from 1-3 metres in diameter and up to 5 metres in height. The sculpture covers a distance of 36 metres.
mouldCAM had worked with Angus before and were once again a first choice for helping to bring the artist’s newest design to reality.
The production challenges were significant. "We were presented with a very complex design and had to work out the best way of creating it," said mouldCAM's Managing Director Toby Whitfield. "The shapes involved were highly unusual and many people said it couldn't be done. We needed to find a solution that would produce them accurately, delivering on James' exact design but also making sure they'd be robust and durable".
mouldCAM conducted a preliminary Finite Element Analysis to ensure the moulds produced would result in a sculpture stable and strong enough to withstand its new home on the edge of a Melbourne freeway.
Taking Angus' three-dimensional CAD design, mouldCAM used composite manufacturing technology to cut a series of unique ellipsoid moulds. Each 'ellipsoid' was then seemlessly melded together in mouldCAM's Queensland factory to create the 36 metre long sculpture. Following application of a distinctive paint finish, the sculpture was broken back down into three sections, transported to Melbourne and reassembled and installed by the mouldCAM team.
The result? A perfect replication of James Angus' unique design. And proof that there really are no limitations on today's art and architecture. Even the most imaginative, remarkable and unusual shapes can now be produced.
"A great advantage for me is that they offer a well-integrated production. It's a one-stop shop from design, engineering, machining and cutting to painting. This means efficiency and quality control for my work," said James Angus.
Once the new EastLink Freeway is opened, commuters will be able to view the distinctive “Ellisoidal Freeway Sculpture” between Melbourne's Wellington Road and Corhanwarrabul Creek.
"No one in the country can do what mouldCAM is doing on the scale in which they're doing it. I like them because they're fearless."
James Angus, Artist.
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