Eccentric Orbit

This was a collaborative work with Rachel Joynt. This richly textured 1,900mm limestone globe depicts ocean currents and land topographies and the historic journey of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith laid out in bronze studs. A large ‘compass needle’ puts the sphere on a direct access with the North Star. Other references to navigation are found in the compass embedded in the circular cement paving with bronze and stainless ‘stars’.

The “Southern Cross” memorial at Portmarmock, County Dublin, Ireland, commemorates the first successful East-West transatlantic flight made by Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in his plane ‘The Southern Cross’ (VH-USU) which took off from the Portmarnock beach on 24 July 1930 and landed in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. Kingsford Smith was accompanied by co-pilot, Evert van Dijk; navigator, Capt. P.J. (Paddy) Saul; wireless operator, John Stagnate.

Photograph by William Murphy