Soft Focus … Summer’s Day

At first sight, this larger-than-life child's flotation ring bounds down the grassy slope of Oruamo Domain in Glenfield. Three and a half metres in diameter, the scale and size of the artwork demands our attention asking, 'what is it', and 'is it for real'?

The polished stainless-steel surface invites a closer look, it reflects the surrounding environment of the domain, the sky, and even your own reflection becomes part of the artwork.

Soft Focus … Summer's Day is by artist David McCracken and is a continuation of a series of works that presents objects of wonder and optimism, in part a response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

"I am looking for immediacy and to 'break the fourth wall' with the vertical orientation and placement at the bottom of the hill. This suggests dynamism ...that something is happening - these are things that can be universally appreciated and need no historical knowledge, but which are also easily apprehended from a moving vantage, as many people will be as they drive past," says McCracken.