Orange based brothers Carl & Eden Plaisted of 908.art.design took out this year’s Sculpture in the Gardens Cameron Anderson Architects Prize for Artistic Merit with their stunning work Novus.
“Being a part of this amazing annual event is a great privilege. The opportunities and exposure it gives artists to showcase their works is truly incredible,” they said.
We had a quick chat to Eden Plaisted about the artwork, working as a sculpting duo and what else they’re working on.
AOW: What has your sculpture journey been?
Eden: About seven years ago, while at UNSW studying sculpture, I asked Carl if he would want to join me and start a sculpture business together. He agreed, we bought a property here in Orange with a decent workshop and 908 Art & Design was born.
The 908 story tells of a cow owned by the Plaisted family living on a dairy farm in the Adelaide Hills. Each of the 70 cows were named and tagged, however this particular cow was for some reason never named and became fondly referred to by her ear tag number, 908. Her infamy became widespread amongst the neighbours as she had a propensity for Houdini-like acts of escapism. It was common to find her happily feeding on greener pastures in a different paddock often far from the herd.
She was never one to let a fence confine her, always finding a way to go beyond the set boundaries, to push the envelope.
AOW: How do you work as a duo making art?
Eden: We are collaborative in all that we do from concept to design to making. One of us usually comes up with a spark of an idea and then we brainstorm, then usually make maquette (prototype) and go from there. We often have more than one piece going at a time which allows us more variation of tasks always keeping it interesting.
We both know each other’s skills and weaknesses so, say a piece needs more detailed work, that’s me, and if a piece needs more hard slog physical work, that’s Carl. But to be honest it’s always interchangeable when needed.
AOW: Tell us about your prize winning work Novus? What was the inspiration?
Eden: Novus was a challenging work right from the outset. We had a very specific idea in mind and it became clear deep into the project that it was not working. We stopped, cussed for bit, and took a break for a few days.
Then Carl came back with a ‘pivot’. We agreed and started reworking the design eventually ending up with the current version which we couldn’t be happier with.
AOW: What do value about being in Sculptures in the Gardens?
Eden: From the outset the SIG team has been incredibly well organised, kind and supportive. This is now our 4th year exhibiting here and every year gets bigger and better.
Often family from Sydney come up and we all hire an Airbnb and make grand ol’ weekend of it.
AOW: Where else have you made sculptures for recently? Where can we see more of your work?
This year we exhibited down in ‘Sculpture Bermagui’ selling 4 works. Our work has also been shown at M Contemporary, Gaffa Gallery and Kudos Gallery.
See more of their work and contact 908 via their instagram account: 908.art.design
Image: supplied.
