The Skywhale took a sensational and leisurely flight over the centre of Canberra this morning. Her massive mammaries and glistening tail sailed across the sky in a brief and controversy-ridden visit to our centenary celebrations. She will fly again on Monday, so keep your eyes to the skies!

Canberra’s penchant for spectacular hot air balloons has already been celebrated with the balloon spectacular in March, and this artwork revisits this enduring affection for seeing unusual, larger-than-life creations float above our showpiece lake and our national institutions.

The Skywhale was commissioned by the Centenary of Canberra and paid for by the ACT Government. The flying sculpture was conceived by artist Patricia Piccinini, and constructed in the UK. The price tag would likely have been similar whatever form the work had taken and whichever artist had been selected to create it. Artist’s commission, materials, construction, wages and salaries, transport, storage, insurance; the list of expenses is longer than many would realise. Of course, the flames of controversy have been fanned out of control by the strangeness of the creature itself, however anyone familiar with Piccini’s work over the past several years would not besurprised at the oddly appealing combination of beauty and beast which has emerged from her imagination.

Much of the outcry has been focused on financials, why put $300K+ towards this fleeting fanciful flight rather than in to worthy causes, like hospital beds or local charities? This is an impossible argument to win. Public art almost always provokes this brand of objection, with the lack of practical purpose undermining any more cerebral rationale. Along with art galleries, museums, libraries, music, and theatre, I believe public art plays an important role in giving us all the opportunity to encounter beauty, culture, philosophy, spirituality and emotion in various forms, to stretch our minds and hearts and to encourage the creative amongst us to continue in their pursuits. Many others feel the opposite, believing public funds should serve public purpose, or at least garner financial returns. And then there is the question of taste, which always effects people’s reaction to art, and which is such a subjective thing you can never hope to please everybody.

Canberrans love to hate the sculptures which adorn our roadways, unless of course they are part of memorials, in which case their role in commemoration lends them legitimacy in the public mind. This role still doesn’t insulate all work from criticism; residents who were here when the ANZAC basket handles were installed will remember the widespread objections and opposition. The companion pieces which now form the southern gateway of ANZAC Parade have become an organic part of the roadway’s tribute to our servicemen and women past and present which few would now oppose, but when they were first envisaged, installed, and paid for, the voices of disapproval drowned out those of support. I wonder how long it will take for people to form begrudging affection for the Belconnen Way owl, or the Flemington Road flower girl? I find both delightful and am glad to see more art works providing decorative and conceptual fodder for the inquiring minds of our city.

Patricia Piccinini was born in Sierra Leone, and grew up in Canberra. Her work is never about being pretty. It is supposed to be challenging, disturbing, and make us reconsider what we see as natural and what we see as wrong. It is about finding the beautiful in the deformed, the worthy in the mutilated, the human in the animal. She has represented Australia at the Venice Biennale, and exhibits her work at some of the finest art institutions around the world. Her work is concerned with the ethics of biological experimentation, cloning and genetic modification. Her too-real creations are embodiments of imagined results of the scientific gone wrong, the byproducts of our constant pushing of the boundaries and limits of human endeavour.

It’s timely that the launch of The Skywhale has coincided with the Ensemble Theatre’s run of Frankenstein at the Street Theatre, as both works confront this question of what the unforeseeable consequences of humanity’s interference with the natural order. You can see more of her work in the exhibition Structures of support, on display at Canberra Museum and Gallery until 19 May.

“In some ways it’s an alternative world, made out of the implications of the real one” _{Patricia Piccinini, quoted in Helen McDonald, Patricia Piccinini: Nearly Beloved, Piper Press, 2012, p 11}

I wonder is there any artwork the people of Canberra would have happily put up $300k for? Is the collective consciousness enraged more by the price tag or by the disconcerting form their funding has enabled? I think the outrage about public spending on this particular work is amplified due both to its highly confronting appearance, and the transience of its presence here. The SkyWhale is only taking a limited number of flights over Canberra, and is off on a tour including Melbourne and Hobart after this. The balloon company that operates it owns it, and the artist retains ownership and control of when and where it is displayed/flown.

Whatever the controversy, I bundled my boys in to the car this morning to go and check her out, and they shared my delight at this “amazing, crazy, funny” whale as she floated over our heads and out across Lake Burley Griffin.