Sculptural light installation in place of a Henry Moore sculpture on top of his original plinth. Artwork was commissioned by Chelsea College of Arts as part of Henry Moore Plinth Project to stand in place of the original sculpture whilst it was on international tour.

For the Henry Moore Courtyard plinth, Anta Germane created a large steel sculpture that incorporates a light installation.

Through its appearance the sculpture refers to the history of the site. The Henry Moore Courtyard is in the former location of Millbank prison that was used as a holding facility before transporting prisoners to Australia. The plinth stands in front of the memorial describing the history of this location.

Name “250-252” is the number of days it took from departure to the final arrival of the “First Fleet” from Britain to Australia. This group established a penal colony and is considered to be the first European settlement in Australia.

The direction of the the mast indicates the movement of ships as they were sailing down the river to leave for Australia.

The lines of steel and glow wire create a shape of a 19th century ship main mast.

For the mast design measurements were chosen from documentation of convict hulks and ships used for convict journeys to Australia in 19th century. Convict hulks were mainly stationary and no longer suitable for travel, however ships used for convict journeys were usually regular merchant ships. The scaled down proportions used for the sculpture are taken from an archive documentation of a mast and yard size guide for merchant ships.

The skeleton of the sculpture is formed from steel rods and the glowing wire creates a ghostly image at night.

‘250-252’ was commissioned by Chelsea College of Arts as part of the Henry Moore Plinth Project 2015.