- April 23, 2024
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“IMAG_NE,” a 14-foot-wide modular artwork by Australian artist Emma Anna, will be on exhibit in Palm Coast for the next two months through the city of Palm Coast’s Art in Public Places program.
The traveling piece was installed Tuesday, March 31 at the Flagler County Public Library, where it will be on display throughout the month of April, coinciding with National Library Week. In late April, the piece will move to Central Park at Town Center for the second month of local display. It will be in place in time for the annual Arbor Day celebration May 2.
This public-art installation spells “imagine,” minus the second “I,” in oversized Scrabble tiles. This absence operates as a blank canvas, inviting the audience to physically engage with the work in order to complete the word.
“They can engage physically — they can be the missing “I”— or they can fill that space with an object that resonates with them,” Anna said. “Then, there is also this conceptual idea that the absence in the work brings —a little bit of space to think about what’s missing.”
The artwork debuted as part of Sculpture by the Sea Bondi in late 2008, where it was awarded the SXS / Art Gallery of NSW Site Specific Prize. Since then, it has traveled extensively within Australia and also journeyed to New Zealand and Denmark and, last fall, made its U.S. debut in Boca Raton. “IMAG_NE” is featured in “Creaticity: Creative Expressions in Contemporary Cities,” published by Lemo / Kognitif in Spain, and distributed internationally since 2013. The book showcases a range of leading international projects that are representative of the emerging practice of contemporary, ephemeral public installation.
“The public response to it was so phenomenal that I’ve decided to make a bigger project of it and travel around — kind of test my boundaries, the boundaries of public sculpture and public art, and to engage with different communities along the way.”
The traveling exhibition is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Falgler County and the Gargiulo Art Foundation, They have applied for a $1,500 Cultural Arts Grant from the city to help fund the project, which the Palm Coast City Council is scheduled to vote on at its next business meeting, April 7.
“I really hope that it’s a source of inspiration for the local community,” Anna said. “I’m really interested to see — and this is part of the beauty of the work for me — to see how people engage in it. I’m looking forward to seeing pictures on social media. It’s a source of inspiration for me too, to keep going with the project and keep making my work.”
