Ascalon nears completion

Ascalon - the new, and controversial, public artwork commissioned by the Dean and Chapter last year - is nearing completion, with the first section spectacularly travelling along St Georges Terrace for installation by crane in early July.

Artists' rendition of Ascalon.

Designed by WA artists Marcus Canning and Christian de Vietri, Ascalon met the criteria set by the Dean, who was looking for a contemporary representation of the legend of St George and the Dragon.

The artwork has four elements to it, representing St George's lance, the figure of St George himself (in the form of a billowing cloak), the 'dragon' (a dark mass at the base of the work) and light shining up through the lance into the heavens.

Ascalon will be installed over a period of several weeks, starting with the lance and billow in early July.

The black mass and the lighting will be installed along with new Cathedral landscaping and floodlighting later in the year, at which point Ascalon will be officially ‘unveiled’ and the light switched on.

As the installation approaches, Marcus Canning said:

"Having a design that you have only ever seen in virtual space, and as a 30cm high model translated directly into an 18m high work is a truly bizarre experience.

"The scale of the work keeps surprising me as it is coming together.

"With Ascalon on one side of the terrace and the new psychedelic light show running nightly across the facade of Council House on the other, I think we might have a new epicentre of energy in Perth by the end of 2010."

There is a new section on the Cathedral website dedicated to Ascalon, which will be updated as installation progresses:
The Story of Ascalon