The Grid Begins,(2023)
The Grid Begins recreates one of Melbourne’s earliest land-sale maps in the form of a brass-relief sculpture. This piece is now permanently located at Melbourne Quarter, formerly Batman’s Hill, the site from which Melbourne’s urban grid was first mapped by Robert Hoddle in 1837.
The Grid Begins reproduces a map depicting the first three years of land sales in Melbourne, following the adoption of Hoddle’s Grid as a mechanism for town planning and land division. Close inspection shows that the cost of land in Melbourne more than tripled for plots of a similar size between 1837 and 1839. By using a public record document as the basis for this artwork, the artist highlights Melbourne’s history of urban development, where land ownership was established from the earliest years as an avenue to acquire and retain wealth.
This piece is located alongside Fire by Yhonnie Scarce, a work that is a memorial to the Murnong Daisy, a plant and food source which once grew prolifically across Melbourne. Our next post will share more about the research and dialogue between these two public artworks.
The Grid Begins reproduces a map depicting the first three years of land sales in Melbourne, following the adoption of Hoddle’s Grid as a mechanism for town planning and land division. Close inspection shows that the cost of land in Melbourne more than tripled for plots of a similar size between 1837 and 1839. By using a public record document as the basis for this artwork, the artist highlights Melbourne’s history of urban development, where land ownership was established from the earliest years as an avenue to acquire and retain wealth.
This piece is located alongside Fire by Yhonnie Scarce, a work that is a memorial to the Murnong Daisy, a plant and food source which once grew prolifically across Melbourne. Our next post will share more about the research and dialogue between these two public artworks.
The Grid Begins,
(2023)
Artist: Lisa Young
in Collaboration with:
kkap architects
Huw Severn Smith
Axolotl
Broached Commissions
and commissioned by Lendlease