Press Releases
| Triksie
Artist: Angus Taylor With assistance from landscape architect Francois Theron. Construction: Eric Manganye & Vusi Rambuda of Dionysus Sculpture Works. Staying with the cow theme at the Irene Mall is Triksie, a gigantic 6 by 4 by 3.5 meter herbaceous sculptural form of a cow that stands guard at the main entrance. For this work Taylor worked closely with landscape architect Francois Theron to construct an internal galvanised steel frame, intended to articulate the whole form, which was then filled with growth medium. The whole was then covered with a porous nylon cloth into which ground-cover and grass seedlings were inserted. The entire structure is criss-crossed with irrigation tubes designed to keep the covering green and luxuriant. Triksie obviously takes its cue from Jeff Koons’ 1992 sculpture entitled Puppy – a gigantic cartoonesque puppy constructed entirely from potted flowering plants, but unlike Koons’ work, Taylor’s Triksie is perennial and makes deliberate reference to the indigenous flora of the area. Gary Larson cartoons spring to mind when one views this thoroughly incongruous cow squatting on its haunches and appearing to greet shoppers. But as with The Udder Side, Taylor succeeds in making historical and social reference to the surrounding area whilst playing to the spirit of light-heartedness and anti-establishment that pervades this development. |
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Some Cow Facts
- 1,200 construction workers built the shopping centre.
- The Tower and its water reservoir is a new landmark in Irene.
- The centre has 95 segmental arches in the brickwork.