{"id":776138,"date":"2026-07-03T09:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T09:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/776138\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T09:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T09:04:12","slug":"darklab-ditches-transformer-artwork-in-huon-valley-due-to-escalating-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/776138\/","title":{"rendered":"DarkLab ditches Transformer artwork in Huon Valley due to escalating costs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The group behind Tasmania’s Dark Mofo festival has scrapped plans to develop a “destination public artwork” in the state’s south-east due to escalating costs.<\/p>\n

The Transformer project, by American artist Doug Aitken<\/a>, was proposed as a way to attract tourists to the Huon Valley region in the wake of bushfires in 2019.<\/p>\n

The plan was to build a pavilion with a reflective interior in the Ida Bay State Reserve.<\/p>\n

DarkLab said the design would have created “a kaleidoscope that interacts with the landscape over the changing seasons”.<\/p>\n

\"Artist<\/p>\n

American artist Doug Aitken was commissioned to design the piece. (Supplied: Doug Aitken and DarkLab)<\/p>\n

The Huon Valley Council approved the development application in 2023.<\/p>\n

The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service gave it final approval the following year.<\/p>\n

At the time, the development was expected to cost about $9.7 million, excluding artist and management expenses.<\/p>\n

But in a statement released on Friday, DarkLab said increased costs, particularly in relation to “visitor service structures”, had made the project untenable.<\/p>\n

\"Transformer,<\/p>\n

Transformer was to interact “with the landscape over the changing seasons”.<\/p>\n

“It is with a heavy heart that we make this announcement today,” DarkLab chief executive and creative director Leigh Carmichael said.<\/p>\n

“We have given the project every opportunity to succeed, but after seven years’ work, we have made the decision not to proceed.<\/p>\n

“We would like to thank the far south community for their support, and we are disappointed that we have been unable to finish what we began.<\/p>\n

“It’s difficult to walk away from the unrealised potential.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

DarkLab creative director Leigh Carmichael says the team “gave the project every opportunity to succeed”. (MONA\/Rosie Hastie)<\/p>\n

Carmichael thanked all those involved in the project to date.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, the environmental and economic landscape is very different from when we were first asked to look at this project back in 2019,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The long approval process, COVID and rising construction costs have all worked against us this time.”<\/p>\n

DarkLab is a subsidiary of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), which is owned by David Walsh.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

The investment was intended to help the region recover from the January 2019 bushfires that temporarily closed local visitor attractions such as the Tahune Airwalk. (Supplied: The Mercury)<\/p>\n

The Transformer project had received funding support from the federal and state governments.<\/p>\n

‘Kaleidoscope’ artwork planned for Ida Bay<\/a><\/p>\n

The creative agency behind Dark Mofo is planning to lodge a development application for an artwork at Ida Bay, next to a heritage-listed railway line.<\/p>\n

“While we still believe a catalyst project is urgently needed to spark further tourism visitation and investment in the Huon Valley, the timing for this project is no longer right,” Carmichael said.<\/p>\n

“We will now focus on working with the Office for the Arts to acquit the federal government grant and ensure the funds are returned in full.<\/p>\n

“DarkLab, with David Walsh, will cover the costs incurred in attempting to realise the project.”<\/p>\n

Carmichael said all activities on the project would be wound up by the end of this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The group behind Tasmania’s Dark Mofo festival has scrapped plans to develop a “destination public artwork” in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[620,11480,368127,449,458,459,64,63,348078,348077,460,368128,134,254811,368126,145163,205515,106597],"class_list":["post-776138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-american","tag-art","tag-art-installation","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dark-lab","tag-darklab","tag-design","tag-doug-aitken","tag-entertainment","tag-huon-valley","tag-ida-bay","tag-mona","tag-museum-of-old-and-new-art","tag-transformer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}