By Field Skjellerup
Neil Dawson’s large-scale work Toss, can be seen suspended within the Hunter courtyard, on Victoria’s Kelburn campus. This aerial work forms the outline of a graduation cap, through strong steel beams and linking cables. Toss can be seen as an overt symbol for academic progress and educational pursuit, but what is much less apparent are details surrounding its display. Many smaller works within the Victoria campus give detail through the likes of wall plaques; however Toss does not readily display this information. It would only be through previous knowledge and experience with Dawson’s perspective hangings, that its origins would become clear. With those such as Echo (shown previously in the Christchurch Arts Centre) and Ripples (displayed at the Waikato museum of Art & History) exhibiting similar feature sets. What is specifically interesting about this monolithic cap is how it becomes a passive object, possibly without need of further explanation. But it should not be overlooked for this. Toss does not simply provide a lift in the general campus's ambience; it looks straight at its most apparent topic and celebrates its hardship.
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