Skunk Control brings Elysian Fields to the Bay

Introducing Elysian Fields – Jetty Road’s newest, most colourful and eye-catching entry statement.

The 21-metre-long avenue of 20 colourful flowers, some of which stand atop 5-metre-high stems and stretch up to 2.7 metres in length, has blossomed at the corner of Jetty Road, Glenelg alongside the Telstra building.

Another three flowers on the opposite side of the road complete the colourful picture.

Together they create Elysian Fields – the entry statement that welcomes people to Jetty Road, Glenelg and lets them know they have arrived in Adelaide’s premier coastal destination.

Holdfast Bay Mayor Amanda Wilson believes the entry statement will become as iconic as the Mall’s Balls or the Beehive Corner as a destination to meet with friends or to snap an insta-worthy selfie or create a TikTok dance.

“Until now, visitors have associated Adelaide with the Malls Balls – that’s about to change,” Mayor Wilson said.

“Glenelg now has Elysian Fields and people are going to want to come from all over the state, and the country, to see and experience this artistic and architectural creation which has its roots in science and the natural world.

“And the beauty of Elysian Fields is that people’s experience of it will change depending on the time of day and time of year they see it, as it comes to life as the sun shines its rays through the glass panels.

“It’s truly a magical experience.”

The artistic force behind Elysian Fields is Nick Athanasiou – a scientist with a PhD in chemistry, teacher and the founder and creative director of contemporary art company Skunk Control - whose love of the natural world informs his colourful, immersive and engaging creations.

“Our formative years, where every day was one of adventure and discoveries were abundant, are sometimes forgotten by us all as we traverse through life,” Nick said.

“We want to create works that rekindle some of that wonder of those delightful years and provide new adventures and memories for communities.

“Nowadays people don’t tend to spend much time with nature to get those feelings of awe.”

Nick’s hopeful Elysian Fields will do just that - elicit a sense of wonder in people as they pass by it and through it.

“I like the idea of people stepping in, stopping and trying to figure out how it’s all working … and then taking a step forward but stopping again to pause. I like the idea of that pause,” Nick said.

Along with the visual enjoyment of art, Nick – with his scientist/teacher hat on – also wants his works to prompt questions from the people viewing it. Especially around how colour and light interact and connect, which is a feature in all of Skunk Control’s creations.

“We use elements of nature to recreate something that is not biological, but nevertheless is what happens in biology and ecology,” Nick said.

To the casual observer passing through Elysian Fields, or seeing it from afar, the flowers’ coloured petals look like contemporary examples of stained glass. But they’re not.

Rather, each petal contains layers of stainless steel, inlaid with optical filters – some of which display different colours when viewed from different angles.

“And what nature does is create colour from the physical process of white light passing through microstructures, that are arranged in ways that allow only one or two waves of light to reflect,” Nick explained.

In nature, we see this phenomenon play out when we observe the colourful wings of butterflies. Their colour is a consequence of light’s interaction with fine microstructures found deep within their wings.

“The materials that we use mimic what happens in nature. Some of the filters we use are made up of hundreds of layers so as light enters these filters only certain waves (certain colours) are reflected while others are transmitted.

Modifying these layers (structure) allows us to modify colour. It’s nowhere near as sophisticated as how nature has created colour for millennia, but it goes someway in creating vibrant and vivid colours.”

Elysian Fields is not Skunk Control’s first foray in Glenelg.

In 2022, an arbour sculpture titled Light Tapestry was installed in Bouchee Walk, completing its transformation from Hindmarsh Lane, as part of stage one of Jetty Road upgrade works.

That artwork features nine colourful petals attached to the existing pergola, which are positioned to transmit and reflect light on the surrounding walls and pavers.

Skunk Control’s works are also on permanent display around the world, mostly in Asia and the US.

Although the artistic company itself is quite young - having been formally founded in 2020 – Nick said it evolved years earlier through an education program designed to help people gain access to uni.

“We rapidly discovered that the best way students learnt was through practical means,” Nick said, adding that many of his former students are now part of the Skunk Control creative team.

“We would teach a lot of physics concepts, including how light is affected by different structures, and the students would build things that allowed them to see the results in real life.

Those students themselves became teachers, going into schools to explain and show what they had learnt. As the demand for community programs grew, Skunk Control came to life.

Nick continues to ensure there’s an educational focus with all of Skunk Control’s creations, through community and school outreach programs.

Approximately 200 school students from three Holdfast Bay schools were involved in workshops with Nick, where they learned about the science of light and create their own mini flower sculptures – one of which inspired some of the colour configurations in the entry statement flowers.

“If we can outreach to the community, the community understands the work a little bit better and it makes them feel like the work is part of their community, and not just there in isolation,” he said.

“You’ve got to create works like that, which inhabit the mind of the community.”

Nick and the Skunk Control team oversaw the installation of Elysian Fields, at the corner of Jetty Road and Brighton Road this week.

Each petal was added one-by-one to create the flowers and adjusted at different angles to best capture the light and to create the most interesting reflections on the footpath below and the Telstra building alongside.

Mayor Wilson says the entry statement is located at the very top of Jetty Road, in a bid to attract attention from people heading to the Bay, especially on the tram.

“We know that a lot of visitors to Glenelg hop off the tram at Moseley Square and head straight to the beach, but we want them to experience what the whole street has to offer - starting with an immersive experience under Elysian Fields before walking the length of the street and enjoying what our 300 plus local traders have to offer,” Mayor Wilson said.

“Because of its proximity to the beach, Glenelg is truly a unique shopping, dining and entertainment destination which has been made even more attractive with this show-stopping installation.”

The Jetty Road entry statement completes the renewal works undertaken in the City zone end of Jetty Road, which has included significant upgrades to stormwater infrastructure and the installation of new continuous paved footpaths.

The next stage of the Transforming Jetty Road Glenelg project is the western end of the street, between Colley Terrace and Partridge / Gordon streets.

Major construction works are now underway and have been accelerated to align with the State Government’s temporary closure of the Glenelg tramline as part of its Tram Grade Separation projects.