Augustine Dall'ava, Distilled Knowledge 2000

Augustine Dall'ava
Distilled Knowledge 2000
painted steel and granite
360 x 275 x 90cm

Commissioned 2000

Born Grenoble, France, 1950. Arrived Australia 1955. Lives and works in Melbourne.

Augustine Dall’Ava has carried out a number of public commissions though the majority of his works are on a smaller scale, suitable for indoor locations. Always meticulously crafted, and frequently defying gravity, his works can be easily identified by the adventurous assemblage of brightly painted forms in wood, metal and stone.
Distilled Knowledge (2000) was a commission for Deakin University, and Dall ‘Ava thought symbolic content seemed appropriate. Consequently the tall, upward pointing conical structure was designed to represent evaporation, the hemi-sphere a formalized cloud and the zig-zag forms at the top to represent falling rain. The granite basin acts as a receptacle for gathering distilled water – symbolizing the distillation of knowledge within the University. Yet even disregarding the symbolism, the sculpture works convincingly when viewed in purely abstract terms.