Donut by Brook Andrew in Bridge Lane, Sydney CBD, was curated as part of the City of Sydney Laneways Festival commissioned by the City throughout the CBD.

Semi-permanent large scale public art commissions by high profile international artists Barry McGee, Magda Sayeg and Rebar, and Australia’s Brook Andrew constituted Urbanity:(Re)Engaged adorning Sydney’s inner laneways commissioned by the City of Sydney, were co-curated whilst Sharrad was based in San Francisco. The brief to artists was to activate urban space with artworks that explore the tension between commissioned work and the spontaneous creative act in the public realm.

Donut took the form of a beautiful four meter wide illuminated inflatable sculpture suspended high above the lane and animated by the artist's ancestral First Nations Wiradjuri design. An esteemed artist and curator, Brook Andrew challenges cultural and historical perceptions through his art making to comment on global and local issues around race. Bridge Lane was specifically selected by the artist as a site of convict labour and the work recalls the darker side of our colonial history with regards to treatment of both convicts and the First Nations population. The suspended donut form alludes to the notion of a 'pie in the sky', something unattainable yet highly desired, such as travelling back in time to correct past wrongs. The spherical form also echoes Israeli physicist Amos Ori's time machine, Aboriginal magic trees and ideas around time travel and healing found in many cultures. 

Images: City of Sydney