Carrying, Holding
12- 22 Rothschild Avenue, Rosebery
‘Carrying, Holding’ is situated within 12- 22 Rothschild Avenue, along the northern site through-link connecting Rothschild Avenue to Mentmore Avenue in Rosebery, Gadigal/ Sydney. This public artwork is integrated into the façade of The Rothschild, a 176-unit residential complex built by Deicorp and designed by architects Candalepas & Associates. The work consists of 34 non-structural pillars span- ning two levels and split between two neighbouring buildings.
‘Carrying, Holding’ speaks to the idea of home in its multitude of forms. The works peer over the public thoroughfare which provides safe passage or alternatively a meeting place for residents, neighbours and commuters alike. The artwork references the ceramic vessel, and through the interplay of scale and form, the pillars appear handmade, with the maker’s marks embedded within the material’s surface. These containers preserve the past—memories, culture, and stories—while supporting the community’s future—safety, nourishment, and growth.
The artwork draws upon Ursula K. Le Guin’s seminal text The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. Le Guin ‘famously wrote about the carrier bag—a net, sling, sack, bottle, container, or vessel—as humanity’s greatest early invention because it allows us to collect, bear, and hold.’(1) Makers, designers, and artists often reflect on the histories that shape who we are, and the clay vessel provides a tangible compari- son for the human condition.
Similarly, Carrying, Holding presents the bottle, container, body, or house as the central hero of its story, echoing Le Guin’s assertion: “before the tools that force energy outward, we made a tool that brings energy home.”(2)
(1) Audrey Pfister, Exhibtion Text, 2020
(2) Ursula K. Le Guin. The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. Ignota Books, 2019