The giant Griffith Gestalt koala or ‘GG’ as she/he is more affectionately known, has arrived on campus to excite and inspire visitors to the atrium of the Science, Engineering and Architecture building (G39).
GG, is one of more than 20, 2.1m high koalas created for the ‘Animals with Attitude’ sculpture trail that extends across the coast through a number of venues such as shopping centres and parks.
The giant koalas are made out of fibreglass and were created by local artist John Cox, the winner of an Academy Award for his work on the film Babe, at his Creature Workshop in Molendinar.
The koalas are designed to stand out not just in stature but in colour and style as well, as all have been painted with unique designs from tigers stripes, to surf lifesavers and mechanical robots.
Our ‘GG’ has been decorated by Queensland College of Art Honours student John Forno, who said his inspiration for the bold, geometric design came from a modern interpretation of ship camouflage used extensively in World War I and to a lesser extent in World War II.
“Artist Norman Wilkinson, created complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours, interrupting and intersecting each other,” John said.
“Apparently this created confusion for enemy U-Boat captains in where the ship was situated.”
Let’s hope that the only confusion caused here at the Gold Coast campus is over which is the best angle to capture a photo of yourself and GG before sharing it via social media with all your family and friends.
The giant koalas now form part of the Animals with Attitude Gold Coast sculpture trail, which runs from March 6 to April 28. (Click here for a map of the Sculpture Trail)
The aim of this event is to raise awareness of the endangered nature of the koala and in doing so raise much-needed funds to ensure the great work carried out on the 7,000 plus injured and sick animals admitted to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital annually can continue.
At the end of the exhibition the sculptures will be on display for auction with all proceeds from the sale going to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation.
The Griffith University School of Environment is one of the sponsors of the event organised by the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to raise funds for its wildlife hospital.