First, there was the Chanel 7 television show BLOW UP, featuring ten of Australia’s amazingly creative balloon art twisters/decorators.
Now, just in time for the school holidays, Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre is giving patrons another special artistically inflated treat.
The incredible display, which has recently opened to the public, allows the centre to now lay claim to being the home of the most fantastic Balloon Sculpture display in the Southern Hemisphere.
From Saturday, 24th June, until 9th July, children of all ages, along with all fun-loving adults, will be amazed by two enormous balloon displays ironically titled ‘Pop Art’.
Located in two precincts around the centre, visitors will be enchanted by a variety of supersized sculptures that are entirely made from balloons.
In the first area on the ground floor outside Target you will witness a breathtaking colourful World Underwater where a monster-sized shark, sea creatures and turtles make their way through a coral reef seemingly unaffected by the titanic battle raging between a giant kraken squid and defenceless iconic yellow submarine.
In the second area, outside David Jones, you will be awestruck by a Jurassic scene in the Prehistoric Park depicting a 24-metre long balloon brachiosaurus dinosaur with her adorable baby closely trailing behind.
Roaming infront of an erupting volcano is a ferocious Triceratops while slithering high above them amongst the cliff-top ferns is a giant venomous snake.
Completing this picturesque prehistoric scene are two terrifying Pterodactyls looming high among the clouds watching over their chick and unhatched eggs which are safely positioned in their nest, which precariously hangs on the edge of a cliff.
These eye-popping installations and the creative team who put the displays together were organised by Chris Adamo, from the BLOW UP television show.
Leading the hard-working team of twenty talented twisters and decorators from around Australia were some of the show’s favourite contestants, who utilise their excellent construction techniques to construct the impressive sculptures.
Fans of the show will fondly remember the dynamic husband and wife team of Tammie Timmers and Trevor Timmers, Brendan Ord and Donna Cochrane, who was joined by her husband Jason and last and most certainly not least is the show’s master inflator and series winner Justin Williams.
Working like a well-oiled machine, the team put in not a moment less than a combined 800 person-hours working morning, day and night, designing, inflating, knotting, twisting, wrapping, stacking and weaving more than 25,000 balloons to build and install the two displays over three days.
Many of the team have designed and built decorations and sculptures for Shopping Centres around the country, but none of them has ever worked on such an epic build here in Australia.
These fantastic installations are justifiably the main attraction for the centre’s school holidays entertainment. But the fun doesn’t stop at the largest Shopping Centre Balloon Display in Australia.
The Prehistoric Park will also host A Twisted Tale – POP Art’s school holiday program featuring a 25-minute interactive dinosaur balloon show at 10 am and 3 pm daily, as well as a Balloon Twisting Workshop where children can learn to create their own balloon animals at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm daily.
Bookings are required with limited walk-ins available but are subject to pre-booked attendees.
At the workshops, the children will learn about the magical world of balloon-twisting from Michelle Ferron, another BLOW UP contestant who will inspire them to create their own creatures and designs.
Participants will be able to showcase their newly acquired skills at the end of the workshop, where the best balloon artist will be awarded a prize.
It is important to note that in the interest of being environmentally responsible all the balloons will be ‘popped – collected and forwarded’ to Terracycle where they will be chopped, munched and blended with other recycled rubber products to be repurposed to make a variety of items like outdoor furniture, playground equipment, athletic fields and mats.
