Can Anyone Explain This Statue?

[helen m]

if i remember the location correctly, i took this photo in a small sort of triangular park behind parliament house, but there's something a bit odd about the statue.....

can anyone tell me why it was put like this?

[glen]

That looks like Macarthur st with the Treasury building in the background. Though I don't remember seeing that statue. The reserve is called Gordon Reserve.

[glen]

I found this that might help:



[url="http://www.oldtreasurymuseum.org.au/resources/LaTrobeOctober05.pdf"]http://www.oldtreasurymuseum.org.au/resour...beOctober05.pdf[/url]



MEDIA RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 2005

LANDMARK TURNS LA TROBE ON HIS HEAD



A giant statue of Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe will be installed upside down

in the Gordon Reserve, next to the new City Museum, at the corner of Spring and

MacArthur Streets.



‘Landmark’, by Melbourne artist Charles Robb, will be installed at 10am on Friday 7

October in Gordon Reserve, corner of Spring and MacArthur Streets. The statue

forms part of the exhibition ‘Making Melbourne’, currently showing at City Museum

at Old Treasury, Melbourne.



Charles La Trobe was Victoria’s first Lieutenant-Governor, who served the colony of

Victoria from 1839 to 1854. The statue stands five metres high, and in every way

resembles a traditional nineteenth-century bronze statue, except that La Trobe is

depicted standing on his head. The work is made out of plastics and fibreglass.

Part of Charles Robb’s reason for inverting the statue was to critique nineteenthcentury

value systems. Charles La Trobe is an important figure in colonial history. He

began setting aside from sale large areas of land in the early 1840s, which he

described as being for ‘the public advantage and recreation’. He had the foresight to

set aside a minimum of 20% of all land in Melbourne and surrounding suburbs for

parks, and to this day Melbourne enjoys a reputation as a ‘garden city’.



La Trobe was also instrumental in establishing the Royal Botanic Gardens, the State

Library, Museum of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria and the University of

Melbourne. La Trobe University, the La Trobe Library at the State Library of Victoria

and La Trobe Street in Melbourne are named after him.



Charles Robb’s tribute to La Trobe is in part a sincere homage to this relatively under

acknowledged figure of Melbourne colonial history. Despite his enormous

contribution to Melbourne’s development, La Trobe remains unrepresented in

Melbourne’s public monuments. His predisposition for ensuring the educational and

spiritual enlightenment of the inhabitants of the day was not popular with the elite

classes, who subsequently tarnished La Trobe’s reputation after he returned to

England in 1854. Robb’s inversion of La Trobe questions the purpose of public

monuments, and their meaning in contemporary society.



The statue’s installation has the full support of the La Trobe Society, who are aiming

to have a permanent monument of Charles La Trobe erected, and the National Trust

of Victoria, who recently nominated Gordon Reserve for Heritage Listing.



The work has been kindly lent by Dianne Tanzer Gallery in Melbourne, who represent

Charles Robb. The statue was previously exhibited at the Helen Lempriere Sculpture

Award last Summer at Werribee Park, where it won the Judges Commendation

Award.



Charles La Trobe also features in a forthcoming exhibition at City Museum at Old

Treasury. ‘Gardens of Earthly Delight: The Story of Melbourne’s Public

Gardens’ opens at City Museum on Saturday, 5 November, and runs until 26

February, 2006. The exhibition traces the development of Melbourne’s Parks &

Gardens, and examines how they have contributed to making Melbourne the most

‘liveable city in the world’. The exhibition places Melbourne’s major gardens in an

historical and social context, by illustrating their uses through the ages. The exhibition

focuses on the gardens which encircle the CBD - Treasury Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens,

Carlton Gardens, Flagstaff Gardens, Queen Victoria Gardens, Alexandra Gardens,

Birrarung Marr and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and complements contemporary

aerial photographs with earlier historical photographs.



Charles Robb will be giving a talking about ‘Landmark’ on Monday 10 October, at

2pm. The statue will then remain installed until June 2006.



For more information please contact City Museum at Old Treasury, Melbourne on 03

9651 2233.

Media enquiries to:

Beth White

White & Green

Mob: 0416 2809 26

[glen]

I also found this quote in another forum:



HERALD SUN -

"New statue is a head-turner

Geraldine Mitchell

10oct05



A GIANT upside-down statue of one of Victoria's most historic figures has been unveiled.



The 5m statue of the state's first Lieutenant-Governor, Charles La Trobe, has been installed at the new City Museum in Gordon Reserve as part of the Making Melbourne exhibition at the Old Treasury building.



The plastic and fibreglass work resembles a 19th century bronze statue, except the historic figure is depicted on his head.



La Trobe held office from 1839 to 1854, helping to establish the Royal Botanic Gardens, State Library, Museum of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria and University of Melbourne.



Artist Charles Robb said the inversion of La Trobe questioned the purpose of public monuments and their meaning in contemporary society.



The statue was exhibited at the Helen Lempriere Sculpture Awards at Werribee Park last year, winning the judges' commendation award."

[helen m]

thanks for that, it was very interesting. i had a feeling that there had to be some sort of story behind it. and being made out of plastics would explain how they managed to get it to stay upright.



i notice it said in one of the sources you quoted that "the statue will then remain installed until June 2006". i take it that it isn't there any more, or has it become a permanent feature?



talk about standing the art world on its head........

[glen]

i went past there a few weeks ago and i didn't notice it <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> so i guess it must be gone.