By Alesha Capone and Xavier Smerdon
ARE they bacteria, Christmas decorations or giant grapes’
These were some of the answers people gave when shown a picture of a new artwork, which will be installed in the Point Cook town centre.
The sculpture actually depicts ‘a mass of Growling Grass Frog eggs bound together in a clear mass, much as they would exist in their natural state,’ according to the agenda of a Wyndham City Council meeting.
The $120,000 artwork, which will be more than three metres wide and three metres tall, has been donated to the area by the Walker Corporation and VicUrban.
Ratepayers will only have to foot the cost of maintaining the artwork, which will be installed behind the Point Cook Library in Main St.
Titled ‘Frog Dreaming’, the work will ‘metaphorically represent the ties that bind a family and community together’ according to the council.
When Star visited the Point Cook town centre last week, people’s opinion of the new artwork was divided.
‘It looks like a bunch of chocolates. I like it. It doesn’t look like frog’s eggs,’ Suraj Gandhi said.
‘Well, I would never have guessed that (it was frog’s eggs). Not really, it looks like a pistol gun,’ said Lalit Sharma.
James Beresford said he loved the artwork.
‘I feel it’s forcing locals to think. It looks like a man holding something on his shoulders,’ he said.
‘I like the artworks around the area, it’s a bit like earrings and necklaces for the town.’
However, some other residents were not as enthusiastic about ‘Frog Dreaming’.
‘It looks like bacteria. It’s disgusting. It really doesn’t appeal to me,’ Point Cook resident Natasha said.
‘I don’t like it. It looks like oversized Christmas decorations,’ said Altona’s Sue Gielnik.
‘It’s like one of those Yellow Perils (a nickname given to a controversial Melbourne sculpture commissioned by the Melbourne City Council in 1978), which everyone either loved or hated.’
‘I like most of the artwork around the area. I guess there are frogs around the area but I wouldn’t necessarily link it into that.’
Another Point Cook resident, Junny, said the statue was ‘not very artistic’ and
‘They look like giant grapes.’
‘I would only know if it was frog eggs if you told me,’ she said.
