Competing against 98 other submissions
from 17 different countries, Western
Australians Marcus Canning and Christian
de Vietri won the commission to create an
18 meter contemporary sculpture based on
the theme of St. George and the dragon.
Named Ascalon after the lance used by
St. George to slay the dragon, the sculpture
is intended to depict the triumph of good
over evil. The angled pole, white billow and
black base represent the lance of St. George,
his cloak, his steed and the defeated body
of the dragon.
Known for their creative composite solutions, Perth’s ICC Group was engaged to engineer the cloak and project manage its installation. Swarbrick Yacht’s cost effective fabrication solution involved using a five axis CNC milling machine to shape multiple
polystyrene blocks that were then glued
together to provide the form on which
the Divinycell sandwich composite laminate
could be laid up. Contact molding was
used due to the complexity of the shape. The
finished cloak was then painted and mounted
onto the stainless steel lance.
Grid scored Divinycell H35, one of the
lightest foam core materials available was
chosen to provide the freedom of form
necessary to accurately transform the artist’s
vision into reality while still providing
the required level of structural rigidity and
strength. In high temperature and UV
conditions, it will not outgas and delaminate.
In addition, the lightweight sandwich
composite approach facilitated transportation
and installation while at the same time
it will enable the installation to endure
fluctuating temperatures and a wide variety
of weather conditions in the years to come.
www.iccgroup.com.au