Just outside the entrance to the South Australian Museum on North Terrace is a water feature - or is it a piece of installation art - that just fits so perfectly into its setting you would think its always been there. It hasn't always been there though and was unveiled back in 2005.
'14 Pieces' is 14 separate sections of black granite designed to evoke the opalised vertebra of an Ichthyosaur. So what's an Ichthyosaur I hear you ask? Apparently it's a now extinct fish like reptile that lived 120 million years ago.
Sitting just inside the South Australian Museum is an actual exhibit that resembles the 14 Pieces exhibit. What's different about the 14 Pieces exhibit though is the thin sheet of water that constantly flows over and under the individual sections. Children - and plenty of adults - never fail to touch the pieces when the water is flowing and because the pieces are spaced far enough apart to walk between, you'll always see someone in the middle of the sculpture. I like the fact that people become a part of this piece of art and actively interact with it through something as simple as water.
Designed by artists Angela and Hossein Valamanesh, the execution of this water feature required input from a team of people including architects, stonemasons, engineers, hydraulic designers and contractors. read more