Bringing Outdoor Community Art Projects to Life

Tensile has been involved in several outdoor community art projects, using stainless steel cables to help bring them to life.

Stainless steel cables provide the necessary strength for suspended installations, while being unobtrusive – which ensures they don’t detract from the design. Given that each installation is unique, a customised cabling system is required.

Here are some examples of suspended art installations we’ve worked on.

Acland St, Melbourne

This temporary suspended art installation in Acland Street at St Kilda was made possible through a partnership between various local organisations and schools. The colourful overhead hoops with their fabric tendrils – suspended via a custom stainless steel cable system – created an atmosphere of fun and vibrancy.

This project demonstrates the benefits of collaborative community art projects, which can generate excitement and a sense of belonging. Community art projects can also boost local economies by attracting tourists, encouraging people to gather, and generally enlivening an otherwise everyday space.

Steam Mill Lane sculptures, Sydney

Part of the rejuvenation of this Darling Harbour laneway involved the installation of some boldly coloured metal geometric sculpture pieces, inspired by city lights and nightscapes. The installation also provides overhead lights for people that use the space in the evenings – demonstrating how catenary lighting systems can be used as a form of art in a community space.

Bringing the project to reality required a balancing act between art and engineering. Part of our task was to create a robust system for suspending the artworks that was strong enough to hold them in place securely while being near-invisible. We used 6mm stainless steel cables to suspend the pieces, and also took care of the electrical works and lighting that enable the works to illuminate at night.

This process required some modelling before the final project could be put into place on site. The result is pretty stunning – as you can see here!

“Reflect” light sculpture, Sydney

This installation at the Arc by Crown building in Clarence Street is a 7m x 32m illuminated sculpture that has been squeezed into a relatively tight space.

The clients wanted the work to look like it was floating over the space – not so easy to do given it weighs 1.2 tonnes and comprises thousands of LED lights!

But never shying away from a challenge, we designed a custom cable system with 6mm cables to suspend the piece and 4mm cables within a tube frame for the lights.

We think the results speak for themselves – check it out!

Henley Square catenary light installation, Adelaide

The great thing about overhead catenary lights is they can safely illuminate a space without the use of intrusive poles or other supports.

When this public square at an Adelaide beach needed an overhead decorative lighting installation, we used 4mm cables – spanning up to 30m – that become invisible at night and are barely noticeable during the day.

This ensures the lights appear overhead much like stars in the night sky when they come on after dark.

As well as looking creative and awesome, catenary lighting installations such as this can generate a greater sense of community by improving security and encouraging people to use a space in the evenings.

To find out how we can help bring your outdoor community art project to life, contact us today!