As the urban hum of a Melbourne day fades, the glow of dusk softens the city. Intermittently lights in buildings become visible, streetlights and signs turn on, traffic lights bold in colour are reflected in puddles of rain and shop fronts—the city’s night-time expression begins.
At 240-248 Victoria Street we look up, and from a fifth floor window the silhouette of a woman appears opening drapes. On another floor a man is playing saxophone and through another we see a couple eating a meal together.
Across 10 ‘windows’ of the western facade of the Bayley Ward building, this new public art installation by Melbourne design studio RAMUS, offers vignettes of a community in their everyday activities.
Designed to be integrated into the architecture and light scape of the surrounding city, Silhouettes takes the form of 10 low-resolution LED screens housed in window boxes, activating a previously unused facade.
Commissioned by the Australian Nurses and Midwives Association (ANMF), 240-248 Victoria Street offers affordable, high-quality accommodation for ANMF members attending conferences and seminars in Melbourne.
Engaged during the Year of Health and Care Workers 2021, ANMF’s brief to RAMUS was for an artwork that supported the purpose of the building.
Inspired by the care and dedication of those who work in service to others, RAMUS wanted to communicate the diversity and everyday commitment of these people, who, regardless of what they see and do in the service of their work, continue with their responsibilities and personal contributions to the community.
RAMUS crafted the footage by adding digital window frames, drapes and lights to provide a sense of depth and dimensionality to the images, and to enable the silhouetted figures to appear inside the building.
A customised control system enables the content to be selected randomly so that the overall display never looks the same.
Displaying every evening from dusk to midnight, Silhouettes is a delightfully quiet encounter, settling itself unobtrusively into the night scape of Victoria Street, whilst offering viewers an insight into the beauty of everyday moments.
For more information take a look at Ramus and their Urban Light Art projects.
Designer: RAMUS
Client: NSE Property Group
Building architect: Bayley Ward
Builder: Multiplex
Screens: ULA
Window boxes: B&R Enclosures
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