The Spheres – affectionately known as the Mall's Balls - is one of the most common meeting places for visitors to Rundle Mall, in the heart of Adelaide.
Created by Vienna-born artist Bert Flugelman AM, the stainless-steel sculpture was donated by the Hindmarsh Building Society to the City of Adelaide in 1977, to mark its centenary.
Tourists love to pose by it, children have fun interacting with it, and nature takes its toll on it, which is why the team from Artlab Australia was recently called upon to give the structure a chemical clean.
Artlab Australia’s Senior Metals Conservator Ian Miles led the five-day project of giving the Mall's Balls a “bubble bath” after he was approached by the City of Adelaide, which was concerned that the structure was not as shiny as the artist had intended.
“The City of Adelaide routinely cleans it, so I put forward a proposal to give it a chemical clean to help remove the buildup on the surface and iron corrosion,” Mr Miles said.
He said the chemical clean was an interim measure to delay the need to remove the Mall's Balls and give it a more abrasive polish.
“We want to keep art pieces like this out for the public to enjoy for as long as possible and this kind of chemical cleans allows that to happen,” he said.
"It has come up absolutely beautiful and shiny, just as the artist would have wanted and it’s fantastic to see how people are positively interacting with it again."
Artlab Australia is a South Australian government agency that provides expert services for the preservation, care and management of the state's cultural collections, including major artworks, historic artefacts and outdoor monuments.
Mr Miles primarily works on large metal pieces, including the Life of Stars by Lindy Lee out the front of the Art Gallery of South Australia, which has also received a chemical clean.
In 2020, Mr Miles received the Department of the Premier and Cabinet Employee Recognition Award for his prompt removal of graffiti on the A Day Out sculpture by Marguerite Derricourt, more commonly known as the Rundle Mall Pigs.
“The Pigs were unfortunately graffitied on not long after Covid and I removed the graffiti and iron corrosion, and the kids were playing
with them again in no time,” he said.
“From my work I feel like I have a real connection to this city and the artists that contribute to it and really encourage all South Australians and visitors to remember to look up and around more often to appreciate and see more of the art in the cityscape."
For more information, visit Artlab Australia.
