Skip to main content

The Living Desert and leaving Broken Hill.

Road Trip Day 8: 30th May 2007

It seemed like every artist in Broken Hill has had a go at painting the Living Desert Sculptures. I'd seen it in so many artworks, including The Big Picture, that it almost felt like there was no need to go and see the actual sculptures.

Today we were supposed to leave Broken Hill but after yesterday's down pours the morning greeted us with blue skies so Rose and I took the opportunity to make our final stop in Broken Hill a trip to the sculptures.

The Living Desert is actually the name of the flora and fauna park located near the Sculpture Symposium Park but the name Living Desert Sculptures seems to have caught on. Located nine kilometers from Broken Hill you can drive all the way to the sculpture park if you obtain a gate key from the visitor centre in town. Alternatively you can go to the second entrance that gives you access to the flora and fauna park and the sculptures via a 20 minute walk trail (up hill).

Rose and I opted for the walk trail entrance so we could head out of Broken Hill without any further stops. If you're fit then it is worth taking the trail as it offers some spectacular views of the landscape (which you will notice on the way back).

Having been unimpressed with the Barossa Sculpture Symposium and didn't have high expectations of the sculptures at Broken hill - especially as I had some idea from the many paintings of the kind of contemporary forms that had been created.

This Symposium seems to have been created at the whim of sculpture artist Lawrence Beck whom noted that Broken Hill had some of the best painters in Australia but no sculpture. Beck put the idea to council to create the park using Wilcannia Sandstone and in 1993 the project went ahead with council funding and community support.

Twelve sculptors from various locations around the world were invited to create a sculpture inspired by the environment, their own ideas and carvings created 30 000 years ago by local aborigines.

The centre piece sculpture (see photo right) is called "Bajo El Sol Jaguar" (Under the Jaguar Sun) by Antonio Nava Tirado from Mexico is surprisingly not in the centre. In fact the whole park is not laid out in the straight line that it is often depicted in paintings. This particular sculpture is arguably the most striking and contemporary and has become the centre piece because it looks great at sunset (for the brochures - you can do a sunset tour of the sculptures).

Rather than describing each sculpture, some are clearly more to my taste than others, I thought a comparison between this symposium and the one in the Barossa might be more worthwhile.

As a whole the Broken Hill Sculpture symposium works well and is quite a spectacular display. Where the Barossa Symposium struggles to make use of the sweeping vista it competes with, Broken Hill uses the view to enhance and compliment the art. It is very hard not to take a photo of each individual artwork without including the vast view behind as a backdrop. These works don't compete with the view, they are inherently part of the view.

All of the Broken Hill sculptures are quite close together forming a whole where as in the Barossa the sculptures are scattered and isolated. Many of the Barossa's sculptures require you to look back at the hill rather than out to the view thus making the art feel less monumental. No such problem exists at Broken Hill. Even the sculptures not to my liking still look impressive.

The Living Desert Sculpture Symposium is indeed as impressive and worthy of so many paintings. Artists in Broken Hill have clearly embraced it as an icon (it's a shame the Barossa Art community doesn't feel the same about their park). Rose and I didn't think we'd get to see it but thankfully we did. Another MUST SEE if you're planning a trip to Broken Hill.

With that our visit to the 'Silver City' was over and we undertook the drive back, en route to Whyalla. Tonight we've made it as far as Peterborough stopping at the Peterborough Motel. Tomorrow we're going to head out as early as possible heading for our detour to Laura (for the photo opportunity with the C. J. Dennis statue) then full steam ahead to Whyalla, our next major stop.

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

Course Review: YouTube for Bosses - Sunny Lenarduzzi. How to grow your YouTube Channel into a Business

YouTube for Bosses Free Mug...  or the most expensive mug  you'll ever buy? I've been subscribed to  Sunny Lenarduzzi's YouTube channel for a few years, learning a lot on how to grow a following on sites like YouTube and Instagram. If you have any interest in growing your own YouTube channel I'd highly recommend watching some of Sunny's videos on the subject.  Definitely explore her 2019 back catalogue for the most useful information. This year she's been on a bit of a 'being authentic' pivot that, personally, doesn't resonate all that much with me (but probably speaks volumes to anyone with similar experience). I'm not saying she shouldn't or isn't being authentic, it's just I didn't subscribe to hear stories about her life journey. To get back on track, Sunny runs a successful online business with her flagship course, YouTube for Bosses , a stand alone paid course that does act as something of a gateway to further paid (but opt

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

Review: FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes

FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes I first saw FP's FINO skate shoes in a video by YouTube channel, Braille Skateboarding, titled, THE FIRST EVER NON NEWTONIAN FLUID SKATE SHOES!? As someone whose feet hurt and bruise relatively easily just from the basic tricks of skateboarding (Ollies, Pop Shuv-its etc.) the 90% absorption of impact energy selling point seemed like an ideal solution for minimizing my injuries. A day later I placed an order through FP's website . ​​ Ordinarily I wouldn't mention Customer Service but I can't let the lack of communication on my order slide. FP's website says to expect delivery within 7-14 days of your order. After close to two weeks, my order was still marked as being processed. I sent an email asking for any kind of update, to no response. A day or two later my order was marked as completed but still no signs of shoes in my mail? About two weeks later (just over a full month of placing my order) the shoes arrived. I'm sur

The Braille Skateboarding App - How it Changed My Mind on Switch Skating

My Profile on the Braille Skateboarding App. Braille Skateboarding launched it's new Skateboarding App worldwide on November 23rd, 2020. About a month prior to that they did a 'soft launch' via email for anyone living in Australia. I'm guessing this was to give the app a final test in the real world before launching it proper. Rather than explain what it is, watch Aaron Kyro, founder of Braille Skateboarding, run you through the app in the launch video below.  In a nutshell the app is virtually everything Braille has to offer accessed right from your phone, from tutorials to the Braille Army Community. The app is free but you can unlock more features if you upgrade to a paid membership. Braille App Trick List. One of the apps unique free features is keeping track of the tricks you've learned and giving you an overall score so you have some way to measure your progression. There is an extensive list of tricks, covering all types of skateboarding, categorized by diff

Skateboarding Again After almost Two Years - TET-Life Channel Update #skateboardingat52

Back in August of 2021 I made a final skateboarding video for my TET Life YouTube channel explaining that I wouldn't be making any more videos documenting my skateboard progression on account of some fairly painful stress injuries to both my feet.  At that time I'd already stopped skating for about seven months. I was also planning on closing down some of my Print on Demand Stores, primarily my Threadless and BoardPusher stores. I'm tentatively planning to restart making fortnightly videos (or possibly even weekly) for my TET Life channel and, for those of you following just this blog, I wanted to post this mid February 2023 update video to let you know what I was thinking moving forward. As you may have seen in the video I'm planning to possibly combine some skate footage with creating my art perhaps? At this stage I'm not sure? I do want to make videos for my TET Life channel and, since my feet seem to be relatively fine again, it would be nice to maybe film som

One Week on Light n' Easy #lightneasy

My partner, Enigma, and I recently decided to try Light n' Easy to replace all our daily meals in an effort to eat healthier (and not have to think at all about cooking evening meals). Enigma is about to embark on her third week of their full menu but I caved after one and opted just to get the dinners.