Just a few hundred metres from Sanciolo’s imposing sculpture stands this rather humourous monument entitled Landmark. Australian artist Charles Robb sculpted his statue of Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe in 2004. [1] It presents Victoria’s first lieutenant Governor, namesake of this University, as an inverted figure. The sculpture is an amusing take on the traditional monument figure and was featured in the 2005 Helen Lempriere National Sculpture exhibition of finalists. [2] Landmark was temporarily sited at Treasury Place before being donated to La Trobe University by the artist in2006 through the Australian Government Cultural Gifts program. [3] It is now located in the Health Sciences forecourt, Science Drive.
Robb’s artist statement reads as follows;
"...the commemorative statue is a familiar feature of city parks and public spaces, celebrating individual achievement and contribution but also serving as a…reminder of social responsibility. In the context of the ever-changing landscape of the modern city, the commemorative statue…is intended as a social fulcrum, a point of bearing for a civic identity. Landmark [however] seeks to invert this effect, instead reconfiguring the civic statue as a disorienting and precarious phenomenon, calling into question the authority of this particular European visual language". [4]
Landmark’s place at La Trobe today could be thought of as a nod to the University’s radical roots, as well as a continual revival of one of the founders David Myer’s vision that the University would be a place for the, “free interchange of ideas” with its staff and students able to, “dissect, examine and criticise the basis of current practices”. [5]The simple inversion of the monument is a tribute to La Trobe’s staunch adherence to the freedom of ideas, also indicated by the statue’s situation in the scientific precinct of the University.
That concludes our heritage walk for today. I hope you have learned something of the culture and heritage, past and present, at La Trobe University and encourage you to spread the word about La Trobe’s art, architecture and sculptors. Thank you and goodbye.
[1]Vincent Alessi, La Trobe University Sculpture Park, p 15.
[2]Ibid.
[3]Ibid; Alan O’Brien,Often Spotted, Rarely Seen: Celebrating 40 Years of Collecting at La Trobe, p 2.
[4]Vincent Alessi, La Trobe University Sculpture Park, p 15.
[5] D. M. Myers, ‘A New University in a Changing World’, p 26.
