The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

----------~-
Community
The Use of Digitally Printed
Photo Decals in Recent Public
Art
Michael Keighery tells local stories with new technology
The Sirens of Woolungah, Brighton Beach, Woliongong, NSW, 2009
The recent development of digitally printed ceramic decals has made it affordable to custom print
large and durable murals which have enormous potential to increase the range of approaches to
ceramic murals.
In 2008, I was commissioned by Wollongong Council to undertake an upgrade of a public space on a
coastal headland on the NSW south coast. The intention of the project was to enhance the amenity of
the site, engage local school students in a public art project, and prominently mark the location where
Captain James Cook first tried to land on Australian soil in 1770.
Initially, the intention was have an artist make a ceramic mural which would reflect the history of the
area and provide a dash of colour which would brighten the drab aspects of the built environment and,
through community involvement in the project, lessen the incidence of graffiti on the site.
The site at Collins Rock provides a stunning viewing platform of the coastline and it was argued that
a conventional ceramic mural would look quite out of place as well as being beyond what the $16,000
budget could realistically cover.
The approach that I suggested was to make an understated work based on the well known portrait
of Cook painted by Nathaniel Dance in 1776. The portrait was to be repeated eleven times with distinct
variations in the colours to suggest that there cannot be just one notion of who James Cook was
- while he was indeed a great sailor and navigator, his legacy on the development of Australia is both
positive and negative.
94 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2009