Pinkstone Playground Weavings

Tendril Productions produced and production managed the creation and installation of two giant weavings in Pinkstone Playground (Erskineville NSW) for Reef Knot. Commissioned by City of Sydney, these permanent artworks are presented as an alternative to standard playground equipment. Taking the form of a nest and a coccoon, the weavings took nine months to complete in situ with the assistance of over a dozen weavers. The artworks are created from brushwood, alang alang and hemp twine over a mild steel armature.

Director of production: Alasdair Nicol

Creative director: Michelle McCosker

Production & site assistance: Sonia Tsai & Chris Hancock

Weavers: Lucia Scurrah, Renata Field, Anthea Fitzgerald, Shrin Kunze, Olivia Lovell, Lucy Hall, Jesse Cox, Eloise Rapp, Kirsten McCosker, Hollie Liu, Belinda Sheekey, Ruby Langton-Batty, Prodita Sabarini and Laura Pike

Photography © 2012 Alasdair Nicol

Photography © 2012 Alasdair Nicol

Photography © 2012 Alasdair Nicol

Photography © 2012 Alasdair Nicol

Award winning projects

We’re excited that some of the projects we’ve worked on have been acknowledged as having made an impact on the wider community.

In 2011, ‘Sydney Statues: Project!‘ was a finalist in the National Trust Heritage Awards’ ‘Adaptive Re-use – Corporate/Government’ category and ‘The Bike Bike’ has been nominated for an Australian Bicycling Achievement Award in the category of ‘Special Initiative or Event to Promote Cycling’. Tendril Productions produced ‘The Bike Bike’ and production managed ‘Sydney Statues: Project!’ and ‘The Bike Bike’.

In 2010, Art & About Sydney won a Sydney Music Arts & Culture (SMAC) award in the ‘Remix the City’ category for artworks including ‘Sydney Statues: Project!‘, ‘Oh, Alfred!‘ and the Laneways Art Project. Tendril Productions production managed the ‘Sydney Statues: Project!’ for Michelle McCosker and The Occasional Collective.

In 2009, Reef Knot won a Sydney Music Arts & Culture (SMAC) award in the ‘Remix the City’ category for it’s community-focused guerilla knitting installation ‘I Heart Kings Cross‘ commissioned by City of Sydney for Art & About. Tendril Productions produced and production managed ‘I Heart Kings Cross’.

The Bike Bike
Art & About Sydney 2010

Tendril Productions produced and production managed the creation and installation of The Bike Bike. Commissioned by City of Sydney as part of Art & About Sydney 2010, the artwork was originally installed in Martin Place, Sydney, in September-October 2010. Sitting 12m high and 14m long, she weighs in at around 2 tonnes. The Bike Bike is made from about 100 recycled bicycles laminated over a custom made steel framework.

Executive producer & production manager: Alasdair Nicol

Producer & site manager: Sonia Tsai

Studio management and assistance: Neil Rahman, Jamie Gerlach, Takeaki Totsuka, Popi-Laurel Silk

For more images of the making of The Bike Bike click here.

Photography © 2010 Matthew Venables

The Bike Bike at sunset. Photography © 2010 Matthew Venables

The Bike Bike – detail of small wheel. Photography © 2010 Alasdair Nicol

The Bike Bike – detail of large wheel. Photography © 2010 Alasdair Nicol

Sydney Statues: Project!
Art & About Sydney 2010

‘Sydney Statues: Project!’ re-awakened eight of Sydney CBD’s heritage statues for a contemporary audience as part of City of Sydney’s Art & About Sydney 2010. Inspired by the colourful art clothing scene of the 70s and 80s it brought textile artists and designers together spanning three decades of bold, flamboyant fashion to create clothing and accessories for the statues.

Creative director – Michelle McCosker
Producer – Imogen Semmler (The Occasional Collective)
Production manager – Alasdair Nicol (Tendril Productions)

Artists:
Captain Cook – Ken Done, Eloise Rapp, Michelle McCosker, Helen McCosker, Bronwyn Bancroft
Queen Victoria (QVB) – Rachael Cassar, Michelle Mccosker, Kirsten McCosker, Liane Rossler
Queen Victoria (Queen’s Square) – Linda Jackson
Prince Albert – Jonathan James
William Bede Dalley – Biance Faye
Shakespeare – Alia Parker, Laura Pike, Susie Rugg
King Edward – Bronwyn Bancroft, Michelle McCosker, Popi Silk, Alex Dunwoodie
Il Porcelino – Zoe Mahony

Queen Victoria at QVB. Photography © 2010 Ann Daly.

Shakespeare Monument. Photography © 2010 Ann Daly

Captain Cook. Photography © 2010 Matthew Venables.

Queen Victoria at Queen's Square. Photography © 2010 Matthew Venables.

Prince Albert. Photography © 2010 Matthew Venables.

William Bede Dalley. Photography © 2010 Matthew Venables.

Il Porcellino. Photography © 2010 Ann Daly.

Chalk Urban Art Festival
2008-2010

Now in its seventh year, the Chalk Urban Art Festival is focused around a four day chalk art competition for local, interstate and overseas artists. Originally based in Sydney’s Darling Harbour the event now runs along Church Street in Parramatta. Since Tendril Productions commenced site and production managing the event it has also incorporated live music, dj’s, artist talks, community workshops, performance evenings, exhibitions, a body art competition, market stalls, food & beverage stall and a wearable art show.

Creative direction: Zest Events

Production & site management: Alasdair Nicol (Tendril Productions)

Performance and talks producer: Jess Cook

Chalk Urban Art Festival. Photography © 2008 Alasdair Nicol

Chalk Urban Art Festival. Photography © 2008 Alasdair Nicol

Chalk Urban Art Festival. Photography © 2008 Alasdair Nicol

The Sky is Falling!
Live Lanes: By George! 2008

A collaborative multi-arts installation by Reef Knot commissioned by City of Sydney as part of Live Lanes: By George! (2008 – 2009). The work was installed above the traffic line of Angel Place in the Sydney CBD. It featured a series of custom-designed inflatables suspending sculptures made from recycled materials and a multi-channel audio installation. Remaining installed throughout January, the work provided a backdrop for Sydney Festival First Night’s Uber Lingua stages.

Creative director: Michelle McCosker

Creative producer, production manager: Alasdair Nicol (Tendril Productions)

Artists: Michelle McCosker, Jesse Cox, Kirsten Bradley, Kate Burns, Louisa Dawson, Jim McVicar, Luke Crouch, Chris Hancock, Sofie Loizou

The Sky is Falling! Photography © 2008 Michelle McCosker

The Sky is Falling! Photography © 2008 Matthew Venables.

The Sky is Falling! Photography © 2008 Matthew Venables.

The Hills Hoist
Peats Ridge Festival 2005-2008

From 2005 to 2008 the assorted creative forces who would become 107 Projects ran The Hills Hoist precinct at Peats Ridge Festival. Encompassing hand-crafted scenic decor, music and theatre performances, workshops, sculpture gardens, markets and food & beverage, the precinct’s location next to the river provided a relaxing retreat full of alluring creativity.

Producer & production manager: Alasdair Nicol (Tendril Productions)

Producer: Kali Reid

Programming: Michelle McCosker, Jess Cook, Chris Hancock, Alasdair Nicol

Creative direction for scenic decor: Michelle McCosker, Kali Reid, Jamie Gerlach, Jesse Cox

The Hills Hoist. Photography © 2008 Matthew Venables

B Calandra on stage at The Hills Hoist. Photography © 2006 Matthew Venables

Crowd in The Hills Hoist. Photography © 2006 Matthew Venables

Scenic decor in The Hills Hoist. Photography © 2006 Matthew Venables

Site specific sculptural installation by Sharnie Shield in The Hills Hoist Sculpture Garden. Photography © 2006 Matthew Venables

Pulptry (sculpure poetry) installation by Token Imagaination at The Hills Hoist. Photography © 2008 Matthew Venables

An exciting year in 2010

So 2010 proved to be an exciting year for Tendril Productions. You’ll find loads of pictures in our projects section, but to give you an overview. . .

In January we worked the Sydney based non-profit arts organisation, 107 Projects Inc., to help produce and install Flight of Fancy as part of Sydney Festival First Night. Picking up on the Indian focus of Hyde Park’s Palm Stage, Tendril worked with a strong creative team to dress the trees and stage in anticipation of the 50,000+ guests who enjoyed a day of free entertainment.

Throughout the year we worked on a number of projects that were installed in the spacious foyer of CarriageWorks. These included several installations for the Finders Keepers markets as well as the CarriageWorks produced Winterland festival.

In June we worked with the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet: Community Engagement and Events to deliver a couple of scenic decor installations for the Sydney International FIFA Fan Fest live site at Darling Harbour.

As the second half of the year rolled ahead we found ourselves instrumental in the production of two major public art projects, both commissioned by the City of Sydney for it’s Art & About Sydney 2010 festival. We worked with creative director Michelle McCosker and The Occasional Collective to production manage the Sydney Statues: Project! and worked with artist Alasdair Nicol to produce The Bike Bike.

To round out the year, Tendril focussed on Sydney’s western suburbs. In October we production and site managed the Chalk Urban Art Festival for Zest Events in conjunction with Parramatta City Council, and in November we provided scenic decor installation and planning for the inaugural Parramasala, an Australian Festival of South Asian Arts.

Documentation, planning & implementation

We’ve had diverse experience documenting, planning and implementing exhibitions, public art and festivals of different shapes and flavours. Whether you’re looking for full service production support or just some of the services below, we are placed well to work with you on projects with particularly demanding and unusual requirements.

Documentation
We can work with you to prepare and lodge Development Applications (DA). We’re familiar with working alongside artists, engineers and other stakeholders to collate all the necessary material and synthesising this into your final document. Where necessary, we can also prepare Statement of Heritage Impacts, Statement of Environmental Effects and Environmental Impact Statements that may need to be included in your DA.

Once the project is off the ground we can work with you to prepare the following documents in conjunction with major contractors to develop a safe work environment.

• Risk Assessment (RA);
• Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS);
• Emergency and evacuation procedures (EEP); and
• OH&S plan

We also work with accredited contractors to develop traffic management plans.

Planning
We develop project specific production, installation and de-installation schedules based on your project’s requirements. These are flexible documents which are managed throughout the duration of your project.

To facilitate the smooth running of your project, we can work with you to obtain all necessary permissions and meet your consent obligations with building owners, emergency services, local transport authorities, car share organisations, local businesses, residents and car park operators and the placing of public notification requirements.

Implementation
We continue to work with a large network of experienced providers to ensure we can implement your project. Our services include:

• general project management;
• liaison with major contractors including engineers, riggers and traffic management;
• liaison with stakeholders;
• negotiation and management of plant hire;
• provision of site management for installation, de-installation and maintenance work as required; and
• provision of installation crew as necessary.