Hoffman Brickworks | Brunswick 1996
The Hoffman Brickworks (closed in 1993) was a large industrial site that had furnished the building blocks for half of Melbourne. In 1996/97 artist Renato Colangelo was given permission to document the site.
The history that seemed forever encapsulated in the walls of the brickworks was the driving force behind the series of work I produced at night. The space was filled with a chilling uneasy air, a sadness of memories perhaps of the lives and aspirations of so many employees over its 100 years of operation. Now what remains is a basic structure filled whit apartments which seems far removed from its industrial past With this series I have been able to grasp a stark record of an industrial age echoing death, chaos, hard work and the routine of all that were involved in keeping the Brickwork’s fire lit.