The Malls Balls are back to their shiny best after Artlab Australia gave the well-known sculpture a “bubble bath”. Photo: SA Government.
The Spheres sculpture outside Adelaide’s Rundle Mall, affectionately known as the Malls Balls, is back to its shiny best after a ‘bubble bath’ treatment.
Tourists to South Australia 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 were called upon.
The leader in the conservation of cultural collections was asked by The City of Adelaide to intervene after they became concerned the sculpture was not as shiny as the artist intended.
Artlab Australia senior metals conservator Ian Miles led the five-day “bubble bath”, which was an interim measure to delay the need to give the Malls Balls a more abrasive polish off-site.
“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.
“We want to keep art pieces like this out for the public to enjoy for as long as possible and this kind of chemical clean allows that to happen.
“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.”
The Malls Balls sculpture is one of the most common meeting places for visitors to Rundle Mall, in the heart of Adelaide. Photo: Rundle Mall.
Made from a pair of stainless steel spheres sitting one atop the other, the artwork measures more than four metres tall and was brought to life by Vienna-born artist Bert Flugelman. It was donated by Hindmarsh Building Society to the City of Adelaide in 1977 to mark its centenary. In the decades since, it has become synonymous with Rundle Mall and Adelaide, appearing on posters, tees and even the Rundle Mall logo.
But the iconic spherical sculpture is just one of many public artworks cared for by Artlab Australia.
The SA Government agency provides expert services for the preservation, care and management of the state’s cultural collections, spanning major artworks, historic artefacts and outdoor monuments.
Mr Miles primarily works on large metal pieces, including the Life of Stars by Lindy Lee outside 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 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.”
