Felicity 2.0 - Bijl x Ox King

TwoGood, a social enterprise that provides meals to domestic violence refuges by employing the very women it serves, decided to run a second edition of their street art awareness campaign after the original Felicity artwork was dismantled in early 2018. With the original campaign focussed on domestic violence, TwoGood decided to make gender inequality the point of reference for Felicity 2.0.

Given the dim alleyway location, flanked by covered hoardings and highrise towers, our design wanted to capture the attention of pedestrians by using a long, zig-zag profile hoarding as the artwork canvas. We then approached renowned Sydney street artist Ox King to collaborate on the lenticular artwork imagery.

Located around LendLease’s construction site for Circular Quay Tower, the artwork presents both a female and a male character, mirroring one another and sharing the same position in the frame. As a reference to the history and context of the Quay, the characters wear blue collared shirts to represent the working class. A floral setting, representing the natural order of the world and the basic truths of humanity, serves as a common background environment for each image.

This installation lifts the typically two-dimensional opportunities for street art into an enlivened, three-dimensional presentation, without asking the images to become sculpture.

Constructed with recycled, robust building materials such as MDF and timber, the triangulated surfaces of the installation allow the dual images to co-exist within the same space – thereby further supporting the conceptual basis for the artwork.

Borrowing from the language of lenticular images and flip books, the installation aims to break down concepts of “the other” and represent gender as male and female being on equal footing. Each individual viewer will experience the installation uniquely, based on how and when they pass by and interact with the installation.