The Vernissage has revealed the story behind her artwork hanging on the walls of foryouandyourcustomers Melbourne’s new office. Employees, family, friends, customers, partners and guests were invited to self-reflect on Lauren Burrow’s artwork.

In Australia, it is important to acknowledge the land where the event is taking place: 31 Queen Street is owned by the first nations people called Wurundjeri. We invited Uncle Ringo Terrick to do the traditional “Welcome to the Country” where he based his story on Lauren’s artwork and explained how in their language “Woiwurrung”, the Yarra River which is running across Melbourne City also called “Birrarung” meant “river of mists”. For thousands of years, this was their home, until the white settler came and used radical shattering methods to reshape the Birrarung and other waterways around Melbourne. They were using dynamite to open up the mouth of the port, creating islands to better colonise the area. This is where the title of Lauren’s artwork comes from “Slow Plosion”, describing this explosive process.

Jonathan Moeller showing the”Corporate Philosophy and Art” book to the guests.

Bernhard Mueller the CEO of foryouandyourcustomers Melbourne officially opened the new office right in the heart of Melbourne with a harmonious atmosphere as a backdrop, watching the sunset with a pink sky and the city skyline reflecting in the Yarra River.

Jonathan Moeller, the founder of foryouandyourcustomers, took the opportunity to say a few words and read a quote from Robert Josef Stadler’s book Corporate Philosophy and Art, which explains why art is such a big part of our company’s identity: “I consider art to be an integral part of reality. The interaction of art and paid work has a huge potential, which foryouandyourcustomers has been leveraging for ten years”.

And finally, Ella Krivanek the curator invited people to look out of the windows from floor 18 where the office is located, and watch the Yarra River, this body of water and the area surrounding it, which represents the Birrarung Marr, formed over tens of thousands, if not millions of years.

The artwork referring to waterways of the Yarra River which you can see in the background as well as the city skyline of Melbourne.

“For me, the artwork has a sadness at their heart, but one that is hard to simply turn away from, because, at the same time, the way that her sculptures look attracts your gaze with their beauty”.

— Ella Krivanek, curator

Ella talks about Lauren as an engaged artist who puts a lot of research behind her work, has great awareness of the land around the office and is deeply interested in the health of the environment and the local community. Her art is based on sculptures and installations that mirror these shapes, puzzle pieces of maps showing the fractured past and present of the river. Some of the shapes correspond to the flow of the water before colonisation, and others after it. It is easy to distinguish the contrast from the sharp or smooth edges of Lauren’s artwork which emphasises the “manhand” interventions compared to natural erosion over time. The sculptures are made of shattered safety glass scavenged from broken car windows.

SLOW PLOSION

Her artwork was exhibited in our Melbourne office for six months and we invited you all to come along and appreciate Lauren’s artwork. We made sure someone was around to welcome you and guide you through the office to get the best experience.