Style Sample: Heart of glass
As the Chihuly exhibition in the Botanic Gardens hits its final weeks, CityMag ventures inside to find the most stylish people appreciating the most mesmerising art.
On a 30-degree Wednesday, CityMag ventured into the Adelaide Botanic Garden in search of stylish people. Oh, Adelaide, you’re always looking divine, but this time round we found a different calibre of people. All ages and genders dressed in light linens and flowy garments in hopes of not feeling clothing at all on this particularly hot day.
The Botanic Garden has also been looking different as of recently: kitted out in artwork. Dale Chihuly – a contemporary American glass artist known for his sculptures and playful pieces – has placed his work inside postcode 5000 since late September last year and it will remain in the garden until April 29. From day to night, the pieces sparkle and glisten in different lights, looking lolly-esque. When we spoke to various Chihuly goers, everyone saw different things when viewing the artwork: some saw frog feet, chilli heads and even a chic plastic bag.
We asked these stylish people how they viewed this famous glass artist Chihuly and his works across the Gardens.
Ava Viscariello
What are you two doing in the Botanic Gardens today?
Getting a coffee. The weather is gorgeous today, and we actually we work in the West End and we’re escaping the concrete jungle of the West End and getting amongst nature.
Pantelis Georgiadis
What kind of art are you into?
I do love performance art. I love a good concept. So even if I guess technically, in terms of craft, it’s not highly skilled in air quotations, but I do appreciate when a concept is very well thought through and it has a social and historic backing – I appreciate that a lot.
Timothea Moylan
What are you doing in the Botanic Gardens today?
I am using the gardens as my office today while I Renew Adelaide, and you should put that in capitals. I’m Renewing Adelaide from the Botanic Gardens.
Have you had a chance to see the Chihuly exhibition yet?
We’ve come and done a couple of team meetings from here during the day and it’s so beautiful. Best place in Adelaide to come.
What’s your favourite Chihuly piece you’ve seen?
I like that blue one over there, and I think it looks like a chic plastic bag and I don’t know if you’re going to be allowed to publish that or not, but that was my first thought walking past. It’s like a plastic bag, but giant and beautiful.
Susan White
Have you had a chance to see the Chihuly exhibition?
We’ve always come here, haven’t we? Every few months we come together. It’s sort of in between our homes, so it’s a good place to meet up.
Teresa Mok and Hazel He
What are you doing in the Botanic Gardens today?
Teresa: We volunteer here.
Hazel: Yeah, we just finished our volunteer shift, actually.
What does that involve?
Teresa: There are some like school groups and kids and then we just help them to draw for a drawing competition – things like that. But we also volunteer around the Botanic Gardens. Sometimes we go into horticulture experience. Sometimes we work on the Chihuly exhibition. So, we walk around the park, and then we hand out maps and answer questions.
What’s your favourite Chihuly piece?
Hazel: Mine is actually in the ticketed area. It’s the Frog Feet. That’s pretty cool but the thing is you have to get inside to see it.
Teresa: Mine is outside near the lake. I’m not sure of the name but it’s the green one that looks like a tree.
Melissa Bennett
What brings you to the Gardens today?
I come here pretty much every day. I work just up Frome Road, so it’s a nice place to come and turn off the brain for a little while whilst I’m working.
Have you had a chance to see the Chihuly exhibition?
I’ve been seeing it over the past few weeks. I haven’t done a deliberate tour, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen most pieces because I try to go somewhere a little bit different each day.
What’s been your favourite glasswork that you’ve seen?
There’s one that looks a bit like a palm tree with all of the glass green leaves. I think that one’s probably my favourite.
Lindsey Withers
What brings you to the Gardens today?
Well, I’m in Adelaide for a few days and I like plants so it seems like a good place to come have a look around.
What’s your favourite Chihuly piece?
I like the water lilies.
Zaina Khan
What brings you two to the Gardens today?
We’re on uni holidays now, and we’ve just been meaning to catch up for a very long time. I’ve just come back from holiday as well, so I thought we’d come out to the Garden on a nice day and just have a picnic and do some painting.
Ishani Sood
What brings you two to the Gardens today?
We wanted to do something girly and cute. We thought it was the perfect temperature for a picnic in the shade, to have some fresh strawberries that we picked from Harvest the Fleurieu yesterday. If you want one, you’re welcome to.
Mihael Mihaylov, Nickol Mihaylova, Shelby McClain and Zackery Grimley
What are you doing in the Botanic Gardens today?
Shelby: Just going for a walk really. We’re actually from Victoria. We drove almost 10 hours yesterday to come up, exploring today and driving home tomorrow.
What’s your favourite artwork you’ve seen today?
Mihael: Probably in the Palm House to be honest – the wishing well piece they’ve got in there. It’s gorgeous.
Cindy Nguyen and Kyahm Ross
What brings you to the Gardens today?
Cindy: The Chihuly exhibition. We’re mainly here to see that, but we haven’t been here in a while, so it’s nice to just have a stroll.
Aislinn Kirkby
What are you doing in the Botanic Gardens today?
I am here wondering and exploring. It’s a cool exhibition, and I’m excited to see all of it.
What’s your favourite Chihuly piece?
I love the Frog Feet that I’m standing in front of, and the Tumpet Flowers in the BiCon, but I also love the Sapphire Star outside the Palm House.
Sarah Maddock and Martina Matta
What brings you to the Gardens today?
Sarah: We’re catching up and seeing the glass, again.
Martina: We’re trying to see it at different times. We’ve done the night; we’ve done day and we’re back for a morning.
Sarah: It changes during the day compared with the night and you see different colours and different aspects of it. It’s really beautiful.
Martina: It’s layered. You notice different things every time, even though it’s the same project essentially.
Are you two art fans, or is this something you came across because it was in Adelaide?
Sarah: I knew Chihuly because I went to see him when I was 18 at the National Gallery of Australia, and that was my first experience of Chihuly glass. So, I was so excited when I saw it was here.
What’s your favourite artwork?
Martina: It’s the chilli head – or what I call the chilli head – which has all the curly bits coming out in different colours with the yellow.
Sarah: I love the glass house, the chandelier-looking one.
Martina: And then the sphere: the icicle spere. The centrepiece that they’ve been photographing.
Michelle Hok
What are you doing in the Botanic Gardens today?
Just taking a casual stroll from my day-to-day and just basking in the sunlight and enjoying the elements and the atmosphere. It’s lovely to have all the Chihuly pieces around as well.